Australopithecus africanus (STS 5 - "Mrs. Ples") Cast Replica Skull with reconstructed Jaws #BH-007-C

Size: 6½"L x 5"W x 6½"H -Species: Australopithecus africanus -Notes: Considered to have lived 2.5 million years ago, the Australopithecus africanus Skull (STS 5) known as "Mrs. Ples" was discovered in 1947 by Robert Broom and John Robinson in Sterkfontein, Transvaal, South Africa. STS 5 was nicknamed 'Mrs. Ples' by Broom after initially hypothesizing that she was a middle-aged female Plesianthropus transvaalensis, which was the original name of this species, thus, ’Mrs. Ples.’ Originally thought by Broom to be a female, STS 5 is now considered by most to be a male. The discovery of this nearly complete cranium of a mature specimen led to a much more positive reception of South African australopithecines as hominids. Twenty years earlier Raymond Dart labeled a skull found at Taung "Australopithecus africanus." The dentition of that skull indicates that it was a juvenile, which led to much criticism and broad dismissal of Dart's contention that the skull was a hominid; instead, critics c