Editing Gigantopithecus (section)

{{Short description|Extinct genus of primate}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = [[Pleistocene|Early–Middle Pleistocene]]<br/>~{{fossil range|2|0.3}}
| image = Gigantopithecus mandible.jpg
| image_caption = Reconstructed ''Gigantopithecus'' [[mandible]] at the [[Cleveland Museum of Natural History]], Ohio
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Gigantopithecus blacki
| authority = [[von Koenigswald]], 1935<ref name=Koenigswald1935>{{cite journal|last1=von Koenigswald|first1=G. H. R.|title=Eine fossile Säugetierfauna mit Simia aus Südchina|journal=Proceedings of the Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam|date=1935|volume=38|issue=8|pages=874–879|url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/DL/publications/PU00016780.pdf|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=12 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212084230/http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/DL/publications/PU00016780.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
'''''Gigantopithecus''''' ({{IPAc-en|d|ʒ|aɪ|ˌ|g|æ|n|t|oʊ|p|ɪ|ˈ|θ|i|k|ə|s|,_|ˈ|p|ɪ|θ|ɪ|k|ə|s|,_|d|ʒ|ɪ|-}} {{respell|jy|gan|toh|pih|THEE|kəs|,_|-PITH|ih|kəs|,_|jih-}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gigantopithecus|title=Definition of gigantopithecus {{!}} Dictionary.com|website=dictionary.com|language=en|access-date=2 October 2022|archive-date=3 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003015831/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gigantopithecus|url-status=live}}</ref>){{efn|name=title|{{lit|giant ape}}; from [[Ancient Greek]] γίγας (''gígas''), meaning "giant", and πίθηκος (''píthekos''), meaning "ape"}} is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] of [[ape]] that lived in southern [[China]] from 2 million to approximately 300,000-200,000 years ago during the [[Early Pleistocene|Early]] to [[Middle Pleistocene]], represented by one species, '''''Gigantopithecus blacki'''''.<ref name="NAT-20240110">{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Yingqi |last2=Westaway |first2=Kira E. |last3=Haberle |first3=Simon |last4=Lubeek |first4=Juliën K. |last5=Bailey |first5=Marian |last6=Ciochon |first6=Russell |author-link6=Russell Ciochon |last7=Morley |first7=Mike W. |last8=Roberts |first8=Patrick |last9=Zhao |first9=Jian-xin |last10=Duval |first10=Mathieu |last11=Dosseto |first11=Anthony |last12=Pan |first12=Yue |last13=Rule |first13=Sue |last14=Liao |first14=Wei |last15=Gully |first15=Grant A. |last16=Lucas |first16=Mary |last17=Mo |first17=Jinyou |last18=Yang |first18=Liyun |last19=Cai |first19=Yanjun |last20=Wang |first20=Wei |last21=Joannes-Boyau |first21=Renaud |year=2024 |title=The demise of the giant ape ''Gigantopithecus blacki'' |language=en-US |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=625 |issue=7995 |pages=535–539 |bibcode=2024Natur.625..535Z |doi=10.1038/s41586-023-06900-0 |doi-access=free |pmc=10794149 |pmid=38200315}}</ref> Potential identifications have also been made in [[Thailand]], [[Vietnam]], and [[Indonesia]], but most of these were likely misidentified remains of the [[Chinese orangutan]] (''Pongo weidenreichi''). The first remains of ''Gigantopithecus'', two third [[molar teeth]], were identified in a drugstore by anthropologist [[Ralph von Koenigswald]] in 1935, who subsequently [[species description|described]] the ape. In 1956, the first mandible and more than 1,000 teeth were found in [[Liucheng County|Liucheng]], 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 [[Old World porcupine|porcupines]] before they could fossilise.<ref name=ZhangHarrison2017/> ''Gigantopithecus'' was once argued to be a [[hominin]], a member of the [[human]] line, but it is now thought to be closely allied with [[orangutan]]s, classified in the [[subfamily]] [[Ponginae]].

''Gigantopithecus'' has traditionally been restored as a massive, [[gorilla]]-like ape, potentially {{convert|200|-|300|kg|abbr=in}} when alive, but the paucity of remains make total size estimates highly speculative. The species may have been [[sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]], with males much bigger than females. The incisors are reduced and the canines appear to have functioned like [[cheek teeth]] ([[premolar]]s and molars). The premolars are high-[[crown (tooth)|crowned]], 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 [[tooth enamel|enamel]] by absolute measure of any ape, up to {{convert|6|mm|in|abbr=in|frac=4}} in some areas, though this is only fairly thick when tooth size is taken into account.

''Gigantopithecus'' appears to have been a [[generalist and specialist species|generalist]] [[herbivore]] of [[C3 carbon fixation|C<sub>3</sub>]] 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 [[tuber]]s with dirt. Some teeth bear traces of [[fig family]] 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 [[archaic human]] activity. ''Gigantopithecus'' has become popular in [[cryptozoology]] circles as the identity of the Tibetan [[yeti]] or the American [[bigfoot]], apelike creatures in local folklore.