Gigantopithecus has become popular in cryptozoology circles as the identity of the Tibetan yeti or the American bigfoot, humanlike creatures in local folklore.įriedemann Schrenk holding the holotype Gigantopithecus blacki molar 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 archaic human activity. Some teeth bear traces of fig family fruits, which may have been important dietary components. Gigantopithecus appears to have been a generalist herbivore of C 3 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 tubers with dirt. Gigantopithecus had the thickest enamel by absolute measure of any ape, up to 6 mm (a quarter of an inch) in some areas, though this is only fairly thick when tooth size is taken into account. The molars are the largest of any known ape, and have a relatively flat surface. The premolars are high- crowned, and the fourth premolar is very molar-like. The incisors are reduced and the canines appear to have functioned like cheek teeth ( premolars and molars). The species may have been sexually dimorphic, with males much bigger than females. Gigantopithecus has traditionally been restored as a massive, gorilla-like ape, potentially 200–300 kg (440–660 lb) when alive, but the paucity of remains make total size estimates highly speculative. Gigantopithecus was once argued to be a hominin, a member of the human line, but it is now thought to be closely allied with orangutans, classified in the subfamily Ponginae. Only teeth and four mandibles are known currently, and other skeletal elements were likely consumed by porcupines before they could fossilise. In 1956, the first mandible and more than 1,000 teeth were found in Liucheng, and numerous more remains have since been found in at least 16 sites.
The first remains of Gigantopithecus, two third molar teeth, were identified in a drugstore by anthropologist Ralph von Koenigswald in 1935, who subsequently described the ape. Potential identifications have also been made in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Gigantopithecus is an extinct genus of ape from the Early to Middle Pleistocene of southern China, represented by one species, Gigantopithecus blacki.
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