How did the ‘real King Kong’ go extinct? Did climate change harm the biggest ape?
It appears a “real King Kong” like ape lived in southern China centuries ago, before suddenly disappearing, according to a recent study on fossilised remains of the creature. This ape used to be almost 10 feet tall and had almost twice the mass as that of a gorilla.
The research team believes the study sheds more light on one of the greatest mysteries of paleontology. Researchers examined fossils of the first identified Gigantopithecus blacki – discovered by German-Dutch paleontologist G.H.R von Koenigswald.
How did the “real King Kong” go extinct?
The teeth and jawbones are from an extinct species, unearthed in caves in southern China. The team of Chinese and Australian scientists believes the large apes used to live in the Guangxi region of southern China that borders neighbouring Vietnam.
The authors of the study – published in the journal Nature – believe the “real King Kong” became extinct between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago. They deduced from research that the creature disappeared due to changing climate that became more seasonal.
Before Gigantopithecus populations declined due to climate change, the species flourished starting from about 2 million years ago in a rich and diverse forest environment, primarily eating fruit, according to Kira Westaway from Macquarie University in Australia.
Changing climate and dropping Gigantopithecus numbers
But around 700,000 or 600,000 years ago, large environmental changes started to take charge and a decline in the availability of fruit also arrived, the study co-author noted. “Giganto (ate) less nutritious fall-back foods,” she added.
Pits and scratches on the teeth suggest the species started eating fibrous food, including barks and twigs from the forest floor, the expert said. Still, the research cannot find how Gigantopithecus might have looked exactly due to the lack of non-cranial fossils.
