In the early hominid fossil record, we see a "radiation", a number of different genera and species, There are various interpretations of this radiation. Some paleoanthropologists split the australopithecines into two different genera: Australopithecus and Paranthropus, while others lump all of these species together into the same genus (Australopithecus). What features do Australopithecus share (which would support lumping into one genus)? In what ways do Australopithecus differ from Paranthropus (which would support splitting into separate genera)? What circumstances might have favored the divergence and subsequent diversification of these early hominids in Africa?