China

A recent study on fossilised remains of the largest ape suggests that a “real king kong” like ape might have lived in Southern China centuries ago, before disappearing. This ape, as the study says, was almost 10 feet tall and weighed twice as much as a gorilla. 

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The research team believes that the study shed more light on the mystery of the ape’s sudden disappearance, which is still one of the greatest mysteries of palaeontology.

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The study was conducted on the fossils of the first identified Gigantopithecus blacki, which was discovered by German-Dutch palaeontologist G.H.R von Koenigswald. These teeth and four jawbones are from an extinct species that were unearthed in caves in southern China.

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‘King Kong’ like apes used to roam in southern China

The team of Chinese and Australian scientists believe that Gigantopithecus used to live in the Guangxi region of southern China that borders Vietnam. They examined 22 caves in the region and found the fossils of Gigantopithecus in half of them.

Several techniques were used to obtain accurate dates for the fossils that panned out a detailed timeline of this ape species' life, disappearance and death.

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“The early caves at 2 million years old have hundreds of teeth, but the younger caves around the extinction period — there are only 3-4 … teeth,” said Kira Westaway,  a professor and geochronologist at Macquarie University in Australia.

Next, the team analysed pollen traces in the sediment samples to understand what plants and trees dominated the landscape. Isotope analysis of elements such as carbon and oxygen contained in the Gigantopithecus teeth helped the researchers understand how the animal’s diet may have changed over time.

What caused their disappearance?

The authors of the study, which was published in the journal Nature, believe that the colossal creature went extinct between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago. The team deduced from research that they went extinct due to changing climate that became more seasonal, and they struggled to adapt to it.

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Before Gigantopithecus populations dwindled due to climate change, the species flourished starting from about 2 million years ago in a rich and diverse forest environment, primarily eating fruit, said study co-author Westaway.

“Around (700,000 or) 600,000 years ago we start to see large environmental changes and during that period we see a decline in the availability of fruit,” she explained.

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“Giganto (ate) less nutritious fall-back foods. We’ve got evidence from looking at the teeth structure,” Westaway added. “Pits and scratches on the teeth suggest it was eating fibrous food such as bark and twigs from the forest floor.”

The study though still cannot find out about how Gigantopithecus might have looked exactly due to the lack of non-cranial fossils, but the study led to a more robust timeline for their life and extinction. 

(With inputs from agencies)