Paranthropus boisei was originally called Zinjanthropus boisei and then Australopithecus boisei until recently. It was an australopithecine, the largest of the "Paranthropus" species. It lived from about 2.6 until about 1.2 million years ago during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs in Eastern Africa. It was 4' 6" tall for a male and 4' 1" for a female.