About 300,000 years ago, on the karst plains we now identify as southern Chinasome wanderedthree-meter-high imios and more than 250 kilograms in weight. These gigantic primates (‘Gigantopithcus blacki’), with which we share a certain kinship, were the largest that have ever walked on the planet. But despite their power, they suddenly disappeared. And until now, scientists have been trying to figure out why.
An international team of researchers investigates the extinction of ‘Gigantopithcus blacki’ 295,000 years ago
What may have caused the extinction of these enormous apes? Was there a species even more threatening than these animals? How could it be that such majestic animals ended up erased from the face of the Earth? Well, research published this Wednesday in the scientific journal ‘Nature’ provides the first clues to solve this enigma. And pay attention because the story is exciting.
The history of these animals (or rather, their existence) was unearthed several decades ago When a team of researchers found a series of fossils that witnessed their passage through the Earth. There were about 2,000 fossilized teeth and four jaws.. The discovery of this gigantic species surprised experts because, on the one hand, such a large ape had never been found and, on the other, because it raised the mystery of what could have happened to make them disappear.
“The disappearance of this species has become the Holy Grail of paleontology”
Investigator
“The story of ‘G. blacki’ is an enigma in paleontology: How could such a powerful creature become extinct at a time when other primates were adapting and surviving? Your demise has become the Holy Grail of this discipline“says paleontologist Yingqi Zhang, researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IVPP) and co-author of this study.
Dental analysis
To solve this enigma, an international team of researchers began collecting samples in more than twenty caves of Guangxi province in southern China where, according to previous research, remains of these gigantic apes had already been found. From there, different dating techniques were applied to understand exactly the age of the fossil remains founds and of the samples collected at these sites. At the same time, pollen analyzes were also carried out, as well as reconstructions of the fauna and flora that coexisted with these gigantic apes.
All of these analyzes provided the researchers with the puzzle pieces to understand the context in which the ‘G’s lived and disappeared. blacki’. But the key to assemble this puzzle They ended up finding it in the teeth of this animal. “The dental fossils of these apes provided us an astonishing insight into the behavior of the species: from their diet to their behavioral patterns,” explains Joannes-Boyauone of the researchers who has carried out the analyzes of trace elements and dental microwear in the fossils of these gigantic animals.
Too picky
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The conclusions drawn by these analyzes are more than astonishing. It turns out that the ‘G. blacki’ disappeared between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, much earlier than previously believed. In part, because They did not know how to adapt their diet to the changing environment of his era. And in part, because at that time the planet was experiencing such abrupt environmental changes that it ended up destabilizing its habitats and pushing them to disappear. “‘G. blacki’ had too strict a behavior, especially compared to other relatives who knew how to adapt more quicklyand this is what ultimately led to its extinction,” says Zhang.
“‘G. blacki’ had too strict behavior and this was what finally led to its extinction”
Comparisons are odious but, in this case, there is one that helps understand the disappearance of these three-meter apes. As the researchers explain, orangutans (‘Pongo’), the closest relatives of this animal, “adapted their size, behavior and habitat preferences as conditions changed.” ‘G. blacki’, on the other hand, only depended on one food source (which was also less nutritious), only moved within a very limited geographical range and, in general, did not cope very well in the face of adversity. And this, over time, was what ended up cornering him.