An Australian anatomist at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, named Raymond Dart, discovered the first australopithecine in November 1924 and published his interpretation of it in the journal Nature in February 1925. The fossil was that of an immature apelike individual and was found at a lime quarry at Taung, southwest of Johannesburg. The fossil existed of the face, part of the cranium, the complete lower jaw and a brain endocast, formed when sand inside the skull hardened to rock, recording the shape of the brain.

In the Nature paper published by Dart, he stated that the Taung individual was an earlier form of human, and named it Australopithecus africanus ("southern ape from Africa"). When a Scottish paleontologist named Robert Broom, joined in the search for early hominid fossils with Dart, they soon discovered other examples of australopithecine. Australopithecus africanus appeared to be apelike in having a protruding face and small brain, but had distinctly unapelike dentition, including small canines and large, flat molars. A bipedal posture was again indicated by the central position of the foramen magnum, and by the anatomy of the spine, pelvis, and femur.

Height	1.1 – 1.4 metres
Weight	30 – 60 kg
Cranial Volume	400 – 500 cm³
Known Date	3.0 – 2.5 million years ago
Distribution	Southern Africa
Physique	Light build; probably relatively long arms; more "human" features
Skull form	Higher forehead; shorter face; brow ridges less prominent
Jaws/Teeth	Small incisor-like canines; no gap between upper incisors and canines; larger molars
Sexual Dimorphism	Probably less than A. afarensis