The Comparative Biology of "Robust" Australopithecus: Clues from Context

Robert Broom’s 1938 announcement of the initial Kromdraai “ robust” Australopithecus specimen represents the first attempt to understand aspects of this organism’s ecology. Broom applied information based on the context of the specimen and wrote: “The apes lived on the plains and among rocky krantzes . . . the larger bones in the caves seem all to have been introduced by carnivorous animals. . . . ” (1938: 379).