Gigantopithecus

Gigantopithecus Temporal range: Pleistocene, 9–0.1 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
G. blacki lower mandible (cast)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Family:	Hominidae
Subfamily:	Ponginae
Genus:	†Gigantopithecus von Koenigswald, 1935
Species
†Gigantopithecus blacki †Gigantopithecus bilaspurensis †Gigantopithecus giganteus

Gigantopithecus (from the Ancient Greek γίγας gigas "giant", and πίθηκος pithekos "ape") is an extinct genus of ape that existed from perhaps nine million years to as recently as one hundred thousand years ago,^[1] in what is now China, India, and Vietnam, placing Gigantopithecus in the same time frame and geographical location as several hominin species.^[2] The fossil record suggests that individuals of the species Gigantopithecus blacki were the largest known apes that ever lived, standing up to 3 m (9.8 ft), and weighing up to 540 kg (1,190 lb).^[1][3][4]

Fossils

Holotype Gigantopithecus blacki molar

The first Gigantopithecus remains described by an anthropologist were found in 1935 by Ralph von Koenigswald in an apothecary shop. Fossilized teeth and bones are often ground into powder and used in some branches of traditional Chinese medicine.^[5] Von Koenigswald named the theorized species Gigantopithecus.^[6]

Since then, relatively few fossils of Gigantopithecus have been recovered. Aside from the molars recovered in Chinese traditional medicine shops, Liucheng Cave in Liuzhou, China, has produced numerous Gigantopithecus blacki teeth, as well as several jawbones.^[3] Other sites yielding significant finds were in Vietnam and India.^[2][4] These finds suggest that the range of Gigantopithecus was in southeast Asia.

In 1955, 47 G. blacki teeth were found among a shipment of "dragon bones" (also called "oracle bones") in China. Tracing these teeth to their source resulted in the recovery of more teeth and a rather complete large mandible. By 1958, three mandibles and more than 1,300 teeth had been recovered. Gigantopithecus remains have come from sites in Hubei, Guangxi, and Sichuan, from warehouses for Chinese medicinal products, as well as from cave deposits. Not all Chinese remains have been dated to the same time period, and the fossils in Hubei appear to be of a later date than elsewhere in China. The Hubei teeth are also larger.^[7]

Characteristics

Gigantopithecus's method of locomotion is uncertain, as no pelvic or leg bones have been found. The dominant view is that it walked on all fours like modern gorillas and chimpanzees; however, a minority opinion favors bipedal locomotion. This was most notably championed by the late Grover Krantz, but this assumption is based only on the very few jawbone remains found, all of which are U-shaped and widen towards the rear. This allows room for the windpipe to be within the jaw, allowing the skull to sit squarely on a fully erect spine as in modern humans, rather than roughly in front of it, as in the other great apes.

The majority view is that the weight of such a large, heavy animal would put enormous stress on the creature's legs, ankles, and feet if it walked bipedally; while if it walked on all four limbs, like gorillas, its weight would be better distributed over each limb.

Diet

The jaws of Gigantopithecus are deep and very thick. The molars are low-crowned and flat, and exhibit heavy enamel suitable for tough grinding.^[8] The premolars are broad and flat and configured similarly to the molars. The canine teeth are neither pointed nor sharp, while the incisors are small, peglike, and closely aligned. The features of teeth and jaws suggested that the animal was adapted to chewing tough, fibrous food by cutting, crushing, and grinding it. Gigantopithecus teeth also have a large number of cavities, similar to those found in giant pandas, whose diet, which includes a large amount of bamboo, may be similar to that of Gigantopithecus.^[3]

In addition to bamboo, Gigantopithecus consumed other vegetable foods, as suggested by the analysis of the phytoliths adhering to its teeth. An examination of the microscopic scratches and gritty plant remains embedded in Gigantopithecus teeth suggests that they fed on seeds and fruit, as well as bamboo.^[7]

Species

A comparison graph of a 1.8-meter-tall human male (almost 5' 11") in comparison to Gigantopithecus blacki (left) and G. giganteus (right): This graph is based on orangutan proportions while standing upright.

There are presently three extinct named species of Gigantopithecus: G. blacki, G. bilaspurensis, and G. giganteus.

Gigantopithecus blacki

Gigantopithecus blacki is known only through fossil teeth and mandibles found in cave sites in South China and Vietnam. As the name suggests, these are appreciably larger than those of living gorillas, but the exact size and structure of the rest of the body can only be estimated in the absence of additional findings. Dating methods have shown that G. blacki existed for at least a million years, going extinct about 100,000 years ago after having been contemporary with anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) for tens of thousands of years, and co-existing with H. erectus, who preceded the appearance of H. sapiens.^[2] In 2014, for the first time, fossil teeth and mandible of Gigantopithecus blacki were found in Indonesia.^[9][10]

Morphology

Based on the fossil evidence, adult male Gigantopithecus blacki are believed to have stood about 3 m (9.8 ft) tall and weighed as much as 540 kg (1,190 lb),^[1][3][4] making the species two to three times heavier than modern gorillas and nearly five times heavier than the orangutan, its closest living relative. Large males may have had an armspan of over 3.6 m (12 ft). The species was highly sexually dimorphic, with adult females roughly half the weight of males.^[4] Because of wide interspecies differences in the relationship between tooth and body size, some argue that it is more likely that Gigantopithecus was much smaller, at roughly 1.8 m (5.9 ft).^[6]

The species lived in Asia and probably inhabited bamboo forests, since its fossils are often found alongside those of extinct ancestors of the panda. Most evidence points to Gigantopithecus being a plant-eater.

Its appearance is not known, because of the fragmentary nature of its fossil remains. It possibly resembled modern gorillas, because of its supposedly similar lifestyle. Some scientists, however, think it probably looked more like its closest modern relative, the orangutan. Being so large, Gigantopithecus possibly had few or no enemies when fully grown. However, younger, weak, or injured individuals may have been vulnerable to predation by tigers, pythons, crocodiles, machairodonts, hyenas, bears, and Homo erectus.

Classification

In the past, G. blacki was thought to be closely related to early hominins, particularly Australopithecus, on the basis of molar evidence; this is now regarded a result of convergent evolution.^[11] Gigantopithecus is now placed in the subfamily Ponginae along with the orangutan.^[12]

Gigantopithecus bilaspurensis

G. bilaspurensis jaw

Gigantopithecus bilaspurensis is a very large fossil ape identified from a few jaw bones and teeth from India. This species lived about 6 to 9 million years ago in the Miocene. It is related to G. blacki.

Gigantopithecus giganteus

Dating to roughly five million years before G. blackii, a separate species, Gigantopithecus giganteus, is known from extremely fragmentary remains from northern India and China. In the Guangxi region of China, teeth of this species were discovered in limestone formations in Daxin and Wuming, north of Nanning. Despite the name, G. giganteus is believed to have been about half the size of G. blacki.^[3][4] Based on the slim fossil finds, it was a large, ground-dwelling herbivore that ate primarily bamboo and foliage.

Gigantopithecus blacki, model - San Diego Museum of Man

Extinction

Gigantopithecus may have become extinct approximately 100,000 years ago, because the climate change during the Pleistocene era changed the plants from forest to savanna, and the food supply, fruits, decreased. Gigantopithecus did not eat the grass, roots and leaves that were dominant food sources in the savanna.^[13][14][15]

In popular culture

In the 2012 film Ice Age: Continental Drift, the pirate Captain Gutt (voiced by Peter Dinklage) is presented as a Gigantopithecus.

In the upcoming 2016 live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book directed by Jon Favreau, King Louie is set to be portrayed as a Bornean orangutan-resembling Gigantopithecus (as his original orangutan incarnations never inhabited India) and voiced by actor Christopher Walken.^[16]

See also

• Timeline of human evolution

References

Further reading

• Park, Michael Alan. Biological Anthropology. Mayfield Publishing Co., 1996, ISBN 1-55934-424-5