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Changing environment caused the demise of largest primate

  • January 14, 2024
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Changing environment caused the demise of largest primate

Subject :Environment

Section: Biodiversity

Context:

  • The extinction of Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest known primate, was attributed to its struggle to adapt to environmental changes, according to a paper in Nature.

Details.

  • This research addresses a significant gap in understanding why this giant ape failed to survive, while similar primates persisted.
  • Fossil distribution indicates a significant reduction in its geographical range before extinction, but the exact timeline and reason for this decline remain undetermined.

Determining changes:

  • Researchers, analyzing fossil samples from 22 caves in southern China, used teeth analysis and stable isotope analysis to determine changes in diet and behaviour.
  • Pollen analysis suggests that the environment, suitable for G. blacki, transitioned from dense forests to open forests during the extinction window (295–215,000 years ago).
  • Dental analyses indicate a less diverse diet and increased stress among G. blacki during this period compared to its primate relative, Pongo weidenreichi.
  • The decline in G. blacki fossils supports the hypothesis that it struggled to adapt to the changing environment, leading to its precise timeline for extinction.

About the Gigantopithecus blacki:

  • Gigantopithecus is an extinct genus of ape, with its only known species, Gigantopithecus blacki, living from 2 million to 300,000 years ago during the Early to Middle Pleistocene.
  • They are the largest primate in Earth’s history.
  • Initially discovered in a drugstore in 1935, its remains, including teeth and mandibles, have been found in various sites, mostly in China, and potentially in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
  • Despite its gorilla-like reconstruction, estimates of its size (potentially 200–300 kg) are speculative due to limited remains.
  • Gigantopithecus was once considered a hominin but is now classified as closely related to orangutans.
  • Gigantopithecus was a herbivore adapted for grinding tough, fibrous plants, with evidence of fig family fruits in its diet.
  • It inhabited subtropical to tropical forests and went extinct around 300,000 years ago, possibly due to climate change and human activity.
  • Gigantopithecus has also gained attention in cryptozoology as a speculated identity for the Tibetan yeti or American bigfoot.

Source: TH

Changing environment caused the demise of largest primate Environment

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