Abstract
Abstract There is considerable evidence to support the allocation of all eastern and southern African robust australopithecines to the genus Paranthropus, but the case for a polyphyletic origin is nol totally refuted. In order to assess the argument for convergence in the face of conflicting signals from the hominid remains, we have turned to evidence from patterns of geographic distribution in other monophyletic groups of larger African Plio-Pleistocene mammals. These distributions point to considerable contact between eastern and southern Africa in addition to the existence of regional representatives of other monophyletic groups. The suggestion that robust australopithecine monophyly is not an exotic interpretation is consistent with the evolutionary history of several other mammalian groups.
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