Ardipithecus

Ar·di·pith·e·cus

 (är′dĭ-pĭth′ĭ-kəs)

n.

A genus of extinct hominins known from fossil remains found in eastern Africa and dating from about 5.8 to 4.4 million years ago. Ardipithecus is widely considered to be ancestral to Australopithecus.

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[New Latin Ardipithēcus, genus name : Afar (language of the area of Ethiopia where remains of the hominins were found) ardi, earth, ground (from Arabic 'arḍ; see ʔrṣ́ in Semitic roots) + Greek pithēkos, ape (of unknown origin).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.