Paranthropus aethiopicus- "The Black Skull" or KNM-WT 17000

Photo on top: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AParanthropus_aethiopicus_face_(University_of_Zurich).JPG 

Photo on bottom: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pahudson/11261772116

-Found at Lake Turkana in northern Kenya

-2.5 million years old

-Also know as Australopithicus aethiopicus, a robust Australopithicine

-Sunken face

-Plant-eater

-Small brain

-Very large (pre)molars

-Sagittal crest indicates strong muscles for chewing

-Though it is not a direct ancestor of Homo Sapiens, it is an important fossil because it is from a time period where there are not many hominid fossils. P. aethiopicus can help anthropologists figure out which hominid lineage led to modern humans. 

-"With their massive jaws, greatly enlarged chewing muscles, and huge crushing and grinding cheek teeth, the robust australopithecines were once successful members of the hominid family--the group that includes humans and their extinct close relatives."Johanson (1993)

-Due to similarities between species, "The Black Skull thus seemed to us a potential evolutionary link between afarensis and the later robustus and boisei" Johanson (1993) A. Afarensis is an important species because it contains the fossil 'Lucy', an early bipedal primate.

(All information obtained from) Works cited: Johanson, D. C. (1993). A skull to chew on ["Australopithecus aethiopicus"]. Natural History, 102(5), 52-53.