Beginning about 2.6 million years ago, giant primates almost 10 feet tall weighing 551 pounds roamed the plains of southern China. Gigantopithecus blacki (G. blacki) towered over today’s largest monkeys by about five feet and is believed to be the largest primate to ever roam the Earth. However, it went extinct just as other primates–like orangutans–were thriving.
[Related: These primate ancestors were totally chill with a colder climate.]
Now, a team of scientists from China, Australia, and the United States believe that this giant ape went extinct between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago because it could not adapt its food preferences and behaviors and was vulnerable to extreme changes in the planet’s climate. The findings are detailed in a study published January 10 in the journal Nature.
“The story of G. blacki is an enigma in paleontology–how could such a mighty creature go extinct at a time when other primates were adapting and surviving? The unresolved cause of its disappearance has become the Holy Grail in this discipline,” Yingqi Zhang, study co-author and Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IVPP) paleontologist, said in a statement.
Seasonal shifts
Roughly 700,000 to 600,000 years ago, the rich forest environment that G. blacki lived in began to change. The new study proposes that as Earth’s four seasons began to strengthen and G. blacki’s habitat saw more variability in temperature and precipitation, the structure of these forest communities began to change.
In response, G. blacki’s close relatives the orangutans adapted their habitat preferences, behavior, and size over time. However, G. blacki was not quite as nimble. Based on its dental anatomy, these giant apes were herbivores that had adapted to eat fibrous foods like fruits. However, when its favorite food sources were not available, the team believes that G. blacki relied on a…
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