From Newsgroup: sci.anthropology.paleo


https://phys.org/news/2025-07-early-human-ancestors-extreme-size.html

A newly published study has found that males
of some of our earliest known ancestors were
significantly larger than females. The
pronounced difference in body size present
in both Australopithecus afarensis (the East
African species that includes the famous
fossil "Lucy") and A. africanus (a closely
related southern African species) suggests
the ancient hominins may have lived in social
systems marked by intense competition among
males, leading to the substantial size
disparity among the sexes.

The research, led by University at Albany
anthropologist Adam D. Gordon, appears in the
July issue of the American Journal of
Biological Anthropology. Using a novel
approach that overcomes the limitations of
incomplete fossil records, the study reveals
that both A. afarensis and A. africanus were
more sexually dimorphic than modern humansrCoand
in some cases, even more than gorillas.

"These weren't modest differences," said Gordon,
an associate professor in the College of Arts
and Sciences. "In the case of A. afarensis,
males were dramatically larger than
femalesrCopossibly more so than in any living great
ape.
...


https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.70093

Sexual Size Dimorphism in Australopithecus:
Postcranial Dimorphism Differs Significantly
Among Australopithecus afarensis, A. africanus,
and Modern Humans Despite Low-Power Resampling
Analyses

...

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