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Summary
On the basis of their many facial similarities, recent analyses have concluded that the three species of robust australopithecines that roamed the savannas of Africa some 2 million years ago form their own small hominid family. Now on page 301, an anatomist offers a new explanation for why these hominids look the way they do--and suggests that they may not be so closely related after all. She argues that the shared facial traits are the developmental consequences of a single character--a unique combination of cow-sized molars and small front teeth.
