Paranthropus aethiopicus and P. boisei existed in eastern AfricaEastern Africa from ~ 2.8 Ma to ~ 1.3 Ma, overlapping in time with various Homo species. Previous ecological research on the Paranthropus lineage has focused on dietary niche breadthNichebreadth and habitat reconstruction and in eastern AfricaEastern Africa Paranthropus species have often been associated with wetlands—in an area in which most fossil deposits are of a fluvial or lacustrine nature. Here we reconstruct the habitat, community structureCommunity structure, and abioticAbiotic factors associated with Paranthropus sites through time in eastern AfricaEastern Africa. We show that most Paranthropus sites share hot rainy seasons and cold dry seasons with variable lengths in dry seasons. The greatest predicted length of dry season is for P. aethiopicus recovered in the Ndolanya BedsNdolanya Beds, Upper at LaetoliLaetoli, which also has the least amount of predicted rainfall. Paranthropus boisei has been recovered from MalawiMalawi to southern EthiopiaEthiopia in variable environmentsEnvironment, but all of their localities are associated with mean annual precipitationPrecipitation above 500 mm per year except for Konso 4. Some lived in more closed habitats, which likely had seasonal flooding if near rivers. Both Paranthropus and Homo species are found in arid and likely cool habitats during this time based on our analyses although we were expecting that the earliest taxa would be found in different environmentsEnvironment.