The correct option is: "Australopithecines"
Australopithecines are an extinct genus of hominid primates. The species of this genus inhabited in Africa from something more than 3.9 million years ago until about 2 million years ago, from the Zancliense (Lower Pliocene) to the Gelasiense (Lower Pleistocene). The greatest novelty contributed by australopithecines is that they moved in a bipedal manner. There is a consensus that australopithecines played an essential role in human evolution, being one of the species of this genus that gave rise to the Homo genus in Africa about 2 million years ago, which in turn gave rise to Homo species. habilis, H. ergaster and finally modern man, H. sapiens sapiens.