Meet Gigantopithecus

It’s 1 million years ago, and you’re traveling through the dense forests/forest’s of southern China. As you make your way through a particularly thick patch, you hear a grumble and a shifting of weight somewhere nearby. Heavy footsteps/footstep’s thud as branches groan and snap. You hold your breath as a giant figure steps out from the brush. Craning your neck, you stare up in awe at a massive, 10-foot-tall ape. Meet Gigantopithecus blacki.

Gigantopithecus lived in Chinas/China’s forests from around 2 million years ago to around 200,000 years ago. Standing as tall as a basketball hoop and weighing as much as a grizzly bear, this giant ape was the largest primate to ever exist.

Because these creatures lived so long ago, it’s difficult to study them. But over the years, some 2,000 Gigantopithecus teeth and several fossilized jawbones/jawbone’s
have been found. Thanks to scientists/scientists’ analyses of these remains, some facts have been revealed. We now know, for example, that Gigantopithecus ate only plants. We also know that its closest living relative is the orangutan.

So why isn’t Gigantopithecus still stomping around? Scientists believe it’s because, around 600,000 years ago, the animals/animal’s habitat began to change. Thick forests began turning into less dense forests and grasslands. Foods the apes once ate, like certain fruits, became harder to find.