Gigantopithecus

Gigantopithecus is an <a href="/facts/Extinct/24p5NP2q">extinct</a> <a href="/facts/Genus/m8EFjSms">genus</a> of <a href="/facts/Ape/QdTk4pko">ape</a> that lived in southern <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a> from 2 million to approximately 300,000-200,000 years ago during the <a href="/facts/Early_Pleistocene/jPp2Cn7a">Early</a> to <a href="/facts/Middle_Pleistocene/UIH3W1Uk">Middle Pleistocene</a>, represented by one species, Gigantopithecus blacki. Potential identifications have also been made in <a href="/facts/Thailand/GCUnN4JK">Thailand</a>, <a href="/facts/Vietnam/0ulfA8Eq">Vietnam</a>, and <a href="/facts/Indonesia/vQnWU3IW">Indonesia</a>, but most of these were likely misidentified remains of the Chinese orangutan (Pongo weidenreichi). The first remains of Gigantopithecus, two third <a href="/facts/Molar_teeth/gQqDtg4z">molar teeth</a>, were identified in a drugstore by anthropologist <a href="/facts/Ralph_von_Koenigswald/l30S6IvN">Ralph von Koenigswald</a> in 1935, who subsequently <a href="/facts/Species_description/JyFpxSvJ">described</a> the ape. In 1956, the first mandible and more than 1,000 teeth were found in <a href="/facts/Liucheng_County/20FIaCcN">Liucheng</a>, and numerous more remains have since been found in at least 16 sites. Only teeth and four mandibles are known currently, and other skeletal elements were likely consumed by <a href="/facts/Old_World_porcupine/rvFgegEQ">porcupines</a> before they could fossilise. Gigantopithecus was once argued to be a <a href="/facts/Hominin/SflaMavS">hominin</a>, a member of the <a href="/facts/Human/rlcTENsr">human</a> line, but it is now thought to be closely allied with <a href="/facts/Orangutan/UNSyBlk5">orangutans</a>, classified in the <a href="/facts/Subfamily/2QPtfDS4">subfamily</a> <a href="/facts/Ponginae/yNL7ce6S">Ponginae</a>.
Gigantopithecus has traditionally been restored as a massive, <a href="/facts/Gorilla/akNvDd3d">gorilla</a>-like ape, potentially 200–300 kg (440–660 pounds) when alive, but the paucity of remains make total size estimates highly speculative. The species may have been <a href="/facts/Sexual_dimorphism/nx9wulFy">sexually dimorphic</a>, with males much bigger than females. The incisors are reduced and the canines appear to have functioned like <a href="/facts/Cheek_teeth/q9Cka2Mm">cheek teeth</a> (<a href="/facts/Premolar/hSpMTu7a">premolars</a> and molars). The premolars are high-<a href="/facts/Crown_(tooth)/9dfspcrv">crowned</a>, and the fourth premolar is very molar-like. The molars are the largest of any known ape, and have a relatively flat surface. Gigantopithecus had the thickest <a href="/facts/Tooth_enamel/ffUMmssl">enamel</a> by absolute measure of any ape, up to 6 mm (1⁄4 inch) in some areas, though this is only fairly thick when tooth size is taken into account.
Gigantopithecus appears to have been a <a href="/facts/Generalist_and_specialist_species/HBajVhNJ">generalist</a> <a href="/facts/Herbivore/me4YFdQA">herbivore</a> of <a href="/facts/C3_carbon_fixation/HdWBsswk">C3</a> forest plants, with the jaw adapted to grinding, crushing, and cutting through tough, fibrous plants, and the thick enamel functioning to resist foods with abrasive particles such as stems, roots, and <a href="/facts/Tuber/wGw2Sbag">tubers</a> with dirt. Some teeth bear traces of <a href="/facts/Fig_family/nFn8SjK7">fig family</a> fruits, which may have been important dietary components. It primarily lived in subtropical to tropical forest, and went extinct about 300,000 years ago likely because of the retreat of preferred habitat due to climate change, and potentially <a href="/facts/Archaic_human/DDp9HANE">archaic human</a> activity. Gigantopithecus has become popular in <a href="/facts/Cryptozoology/5qxHsDSL">cryptozoology</a> circles as the identity of the Tibetan <a href="/facts/Yeti/7pCf23UB">yeti</a> or the American <a href="/facts/Bigfoot/htf6c98P">bigfoot</a>, apelike creatures in local folklore.

Gigantopithecus open-in-new

Gigantopithecus