The great ex-ape

Standing some 3 metres tall and weighing 200–300 kilograms, Gigantopithecus blacki is thought to be the largest primate that ever lived. Pictured in an artist’s reconstruction on the cover, the giant ape was found in China between 2 million and 300,000 years ago, but why it died out remains a mystery. In this week’s issue, Yingqi Zhang, Kira Westaway and colleagues shed light on the timeline and cause of this primate’s demise. The researchers collected and dated fossils from 22 caves in southern China, which they then matched with pollen analysis. They found that 2.3 million years ago, the environment consisted of dense, closed-canopy forests and grasses, ideal for G. blacki, but between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, this shifted to more open forests with a change in the forest plant communities. This led to a less diverse diet for the giant ape, and the fossils show signs of increased stress and dwindling numbers for this period. Ultimately, the researchers suggest, G. blacki was unable to adapt to its changing environment.

Cover image: Garcia/Joannes-Boyau