GARCIA /JOANNES-BOYAU (SOUTHERN CROSS UNIVERSITY)
Climate change killed the world's largest ape 250,000 years ago
ANIMALS – At 3 meters tall and weighing 3 to 4 times that of a human, the Gigantopithecucus holds the record for the largest monkey in the world. Although we knew that it had populated the great forests of Southeast Asia 2 million years ago, the reasons for its disappearance remain a mystery to this day. But his teeth gave us the solution.
By examining the lower jaw of a specimen found in China, these scientists have actually discovered why this animal, which has fascinated generations of paleontologists, did not resist. According to their conclusions, published in the journal Nature, the giant would not have resisted the changes in its environment 700,000 years ago, and that was not obvious.
The Gigantopithecus, whose real name is Gigantopithecus blacki, represented a real mystery for experts. It is one of the rare Asian primates that disappeared in the last 2.6 million years, while its cousins, such as the orangutans, disappeared , went very well. By analyzing the remains found in 22 caves in China, paleontologists were able to accurately reconstruct the chronology of the events that led to their disappearance.
And according to scientists, this dates back to 295,000 to 215,000 years ago, due to a very severe climate change to which the animal was unable to adapt. Its natural habitat had gradually become inhospitable: the dense forests in which the Gigantopithecus lived had become increasingly rare 700,000 years ago and had eventually turned into grassy savannahs.
Too strict a diet
This climate change means, first of all, the end of abundance, as regular dry seasons occur. Plants and fruits that were previously easy to find then became less and less available. For our Gigantopithecus, eating is a very difficult task. And especially because of his physique.
While other monkeys such as the orangutan have been able to adapt their diet to the products available, the Gigantopithecus, which is too heavy to climb trees or hunt, begins to eat easily obtained but not very nutritious foods such as small twigs or bark. According to experts, it was this very specific and suddenly depleted diet that cost the monkey its life.
The discovery is important not only for the paleontologist: there is now scientific consensus about the sixth mass extinction in the animal world: 75% of species are doomed to disappear quickly in the coming centuries, a consequence of human activity and climate change. Investigating the different responses of species, especially primates, to environmental stress is therefore proving to be a crucial point in understanding what might happen in the coming centuries.
As for our missing giant, there are still many unanswered questions about his appearance. Although we were able to find teeth and jaws of truly impressive size, the skeleton has still not been found. Although the lack of fossils has made it very difficult to reconstruct the image of the primate, it is generally depicted as a giant orangutan. A bit like a King Kong of old.
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