I think you are right, yes. I asked the guide (a professor) about this at the time. When specifically asked about Australopithecus and its small size, and about

I think you are right, yes. I asked the guide (a professor) about this at the time. When specifically asked about Australopithecus and its small size, and about the contemporary hominids at the time, the remark was along the lines of: "The other contemporary hominids were much larger, but died out." But you are right that these would then be a split prior to Neanderthals and Denisovians. Looking at Wikipedia's available articles, I guess the hominids that he was talking about don't necessarily have clear names and branches. I am not sure what those hominids would have been.