Paranthropus A genus recognized by some authorities to describe the robust australopithecines (often classified as Australopithecus robustus and A. boisei). They were early protohominids, the sister group of Homo. Members of the genus, often called ‘nutcracker man’, were characterized by enormous molars and premolars, and reduced front teeth. They were common at such sites as Olduvai and Koobi Fora, in the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene.

Paranthropus a genus name often applied to robust fossil hominids first found in South Africa in 1938, and now usually included in the species Australopithecus robustus.