P.robustus (formerly classified as Australopithicus robustus) lived from at least 2 million to approximately 1 million years ago in eastern and southern Africa. New discoveries have tentatively pushed their age back toward 3 million years.
The larger skulls with the distinctive dorsal crest are thought to belong to males. The smaller specimens in the fossil remains of these species are thought to represent females. Sexual dimorphism in this species expressed itself very clearly in the size difference.
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A cranium of a robustus juvenile was discovered in a cave at Swartkranz in South Africa in 1949. The two holes in top of the skull were a mystery until it was noted that the holes match up with the canines of a leopard. The manner of this individual's death reminds us that early Hominids lived among the great predators of the African continent, and hominids must have often played the role of hunted prey.
It is also possible that P. robustus was preyed upon by early human (genus Homo) species, who were omnivorous.
