Australopithecus afarensis (
Latin: "Southern ape from Afar") is an extinct
hominin that lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago.
A. afarensis was slenderly built, like the younger
Australopithecus africanus.
A. afarensis is thought to be more closely related to the genus
Homo (which includes the modern human species
Homo sapiens), whether as a direct ancestor or a close relative of an unknown ancestor, than any other known primate from the same time.