Was Australopithecus africanus more common than Homo habilis?

Raymond Dart described it and named the species Australopithecus africanus (meaning southern ape of Africa), it took more than 20 years for the scientific community to widely accept Australopithecus as a member of the human family tree. ... Is Au. africanus part of the lineage that led to our own species , Homo sapiens? read more

The first fossil (2 teeth) of H. habilis was found in 1973. Fewer total fossils have been found but the geographic range (to Dmansi, Georgia) is larger than A. africanus: Australopithecus africanus. The problem is that the number of fossils found is not directly correlated to the number of individuals who lived. read more

Australopithecus anamensis, A. afarensis, and A. africanus are among the most famous of the extinct hominins. A. africanus was once considered to be ancestral to the genus Homo (in particular Homo erectus). However, fossils assigned to the genus Homo have been found that are older than A. africanus. read more