Editing Ardipithecus (section)

{{Short description|Extinct genus of hominins}}
{{For|the album|Ardipithecus (album)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Late Miocene]] – [[Early Pliocene]], {{fossil range|5.77|4.4}}
| image = Ardi.jpg
| image_caption = ''Ardipithecus ramidus'' specimen, nicknamed [[Ardi]]
| taxon = Ardipithecus
| authority = [[Tim D. White|White]] ''et al.'', 1995
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = * †''[[Ardipithecus kadabba]]''
* †''[[Ardipithecus ramidus]]''
}}

'''''Ardipithecus''''' is a genus of an extinct [[hominine]] that lived during the [[Late Miocene]] and [[Early Pliocene]] epochs in the [[Afar Depression]], [[Ethiopia]]. Originally described as one of the earliest ancestors of [[human]]s after they diverged from the [[chimpanzee]]s, the relation of this [[genus]] to human ancestors and whether it is a [[hominin]] is now a matter of debate.<ref name=cbs>{{cite journal |doi=10.1146/annurev-anthro-092611-145724 |ssrn=2158257 |title=Chimpanzees and the Behavior of Ardipithecus ramidus |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |volume=41 |pages=139–49 |year=2012 |last=Stanford |first=Craig B. }}</ref> Two fossil [[species]] are described in the literature: ''[[A.&nbsp;ramidus]]'', which lived about 4.4 million years ago<ref name="NatGeo-News">{{cite web |url= http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/07/0712_ethiopianbones.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20010715123225/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/07/0712_ethiopianbones.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= July 15, 2001 |title=Fossils From Ethiopia May Be Earliest Human Ancestor |first=David |last=Perlman |publisher=National Geographic News |date=July 12, 2001 |access-date=March 18, 2017 |quote=Another co-author is Tim D. White, a paleoanthropologist at UC–Berkeley who in 1994 discovered a pre-human fossil, named Ardipithecus ramidus, that was then the oldest known, at 4.4 million years.}}</ref> during the early [[Pliocene]], and ''[[A.&nbsp;kadabba]]'', dated to approximately 5.6 million years ago (late [[Miocene]]).<ref name="AndThePaleobiology"/> Initial behavioral analysis indicated that ''Ardipithecus'' could be very similar to chimpanzees;<ref name=cbs/> however, more recent analysis based on canine size and lack of canine sexual dimorphism indicates that ''Ardipithecus'' was characterised by reduced aggression,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|first=Clare |last=Wilson |date=29 November 2021|title=Canine teeth shrank in human ancestors at least 4.5 million years ago|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2299286-canine-teeth-shrank-in-human-ancestors-at-least-4-5-million-years-ago/|access-date=2021-12-01|website=New Scientist|language=en-US}}</ref> and that they more closely resemble [[bonobo]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Suwa |first1=Gen |last2=Sasaki |first2=Tomohiko |last3=Semaw |first3=Sileshi |last4=Rogers |first4=Michael J. |last5=Simpson |first5=Scott W. |last6=Kunimatsu |first6=Yutaka |last7=Nakatsukasa |first7=Masato |last8=Kono |first8=Reiko T. |last9=Zhang |first9=Yingqi |last10=Beyene |first10=Yonas |last11=Asfaw |first11=Berhane |last12=White |first12=Tim D. |date=2021-12-07 |title=Canine sexual dimorphism in Ardipithecus ramidus was nearly human-like |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=118 |issue=49 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2116630118 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=8670482 |pmid=34853174|bibcode=2021PNAS..11816630S }}</ref>

Some analyses describe ''Australopithecus'' as being sister to ''Ardipithecus ramidus'' specifically.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Pugh |first=Kelsey |title=The Phylogenetic Relationships of Middle-Late Miocene Apes: Implications for Early Human Evolution |date=February 2020 |url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3619/ }}</ref> This means that ''[[Australopithecus]]'' is distinctly more closely related to ''Ardipithecus ramidus'' than ''Ardipithecus kadabba''. [[Cladistically]], then, ''Australopithecus'' (and eventually ''[[Homo sapiens]]'') indeed emerged within the ''Ardipithecus'' lineage, and this lineage is not literally extinct.