These are the individual elements incorporated into the composite skull of Australopithecus africanus depicted in the previous page.

MLD 1, at the top, preserves the back of the skull of an A. africanus individual. The photograph shows the specimen from the posterior, looking directly at the back of the skull. Some cresting can be noticed in the form of the triangular pattern converging in the center. The heavy temporal lines of the individual come down from the top. This is where the chewing muscles attach to the skull. In more robust forms, these temporal lines become so pronounced as to form a sagittal crest (see KNM WT 17000 for a good example of this).

The MLD 2 mandible is shown in superior (top-down) view in the middle photograph. The teeth preserved in the jaw include the 2 premolars and the first two molars from both the left and right sides.

MLD 6 is shown from a right lateral view in the bottom photograph, preserving the right cheek of an A. africanus individual. The bone is preserved up through the lower portion of the orbit (or eye socket).

The remainder of the skull was filled in based on other A. africanus finds, and scientific inference.