Final answer:
Australopithecus is a genus of early hominins that evolved in eastern Africa and went extinct about two million years ago. They had a mixture of human-like and ape-like features, and were likely both tree-dwelling and bipedal.
Step-by-step explanation:
Australopithecus is a genus of hominins that evolved in eastern Africa approximately four million years ago and went extinct about two million years ago. This genus is of particular interest as it is thought to be related to our own genus, Homo. There were several species within the Australopithecus genus, including Australopithecus africanus, Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus bahrelghazali, and Australopithecus garhi. These early hominins had a combination of human-like and ape-like features and were likely both tree-dwelling and bipedal.