Taung Child skull (Taung 1). Side view of a cast of a fossil skull of an Australopithecus africanus child from Taung, South Africa. A. africanus is one of several extinct species forming an early part of the human evolutionary tree. Dating from 2.5 million years ago, this fossil was discovered in 1924 by Raymond Dart. It is thought the child was 3 years old at the time of death, and was killed by an eagle.