Taxonomy Gigantopithecus

friedemann schrenk (de) holding holotype gigantopithecus blacki molar

the first gigantopithecus remains described anthropologist found in 1935 ralph von koenigswald in apothecary shop. fossilized teeth , bones ground powder , used in branches of traditional chinese medicine. von koenigswald named theorized species gigantopithecus.

since then, relatively few fossils of gigantopithecus have been recovered. aside molars recovered in chinese traditional medicine shops, liucheng cave in liuzhou, china, has produced numerous gigantopithecus blacki teeth, several jawbones. other sites yielding significant finds in vietnam , india. these finds suggest range of gigantopithecus in southeast asia. there presently 3 extinct named species of gigantopithecus: g. blacki, g. bilaspurensis, , g. giganteus.

in 1955, 47 g. blacki teeth found among shipment of dragon bones (also called oracle bones ) in china. tracing these teeth source resulted in recovery of more teeth , rather complete large mandible. 1958, 3 mandibles , more 1,300 teeth had been recovered. gigantopithecus remains have come sites in hubei, guangxi, , sichuan, warehouses chinese medicinal products, cave deposits. not chinese remains have been dated same time period, , fossils in hubei appear of later date elsewhere in china. hubei teeth larger.

gigantopithecus blacki (named in honour of friend , colleague of von koenigswald, davidson black) known through fossil teeth , mandibles found in cave sites in south china , vietnam. these appreciably larger of living gorillas, exact size , structure of rest of body can estimated in absence of additional findings. dating methods have shown g. blacki existed @ least million years, going extinct 100,000 years ago after having been contemporary anatomically modern humans (homo sapiens) tens of thousands of years, , co-existing h. erectus, preceded appearance of h. sapiens. in 2014, first time, fossil teeth , mandible of gigantopithecus blacki found in indonesia.

some of caves in teeth have been found not caves yet @ time apes lived, fissures. has been suggested gigantopithecus bones brought there porcupines, chew on bones source of calcium. may explain lack of gigantopithecus bones today.

evolution

g. bilaspurensis jaw

in past, gigantopithecus blacki (g. blacki) thought closely related hominins, particularly australopithecus, on basis of molar evidence; regarded result of convergent evolution. gigantopithecus placed in subfamily ponginae along orangutan.

gigantopithecus bilaspurensis (g. bilaspuresis) large fossil ape identified few jaw bones , teeth india. species lived 6 9 million years ago in miocene. related g. blacki.

dating 5 million years before g. blacki, separate species, gigantopithecus giganteus (g. giganteus), known extremely fragmentary remains northern india , china. in guangxi region of china, teeth of species discovered in limestone formations in daxin , wuming, north of nanning. despite name, g. giganteus believed have been half size of g. blacki. based on slim fossil finds, large, ground-dwelling herbivore ate bamboo , foliage.