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Why was Ardipithecus ramidus reclassified into a separate genus in 1995?
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Ardipithecus
Reconstructed frontal view of the skeleton of āArdi,ā a specimen belonging to the early hominid species Ardipithecus ramidus.
The species Ardipithecus ramidus was initially assigned to the genus Australopithecus and named Au. ramidus in a 1994 publication. However, in 1995, researchers reclassified the species into the new genus Ardipithecus after the recovery of additional fossils provided more comprehensive information about the hominidās biology. This new data allowed the research team to distinguish the species from Australopithecus and establish a separate genus name.1