Gigantopithecus

Gigantopithecus are extinct primates that lived during the Pleistocene era in Africa and Asia. They were among the largest mammals of their time, reaching heights of up to 4 meters and weights of up to 3 tons. Gigantopithecus were herbivores and ate leaves, fruits and vegetables.

Gigantopithecus had a long neck and head, which allowed them to reach high tree branches. Their teeth were very large and strong, making it easy to chew hard food.

Despite the fact that Gigantopithecus went extinct many millions of years ago, their remains are still found in different parts of the world. This allows scientists to study their anatomy and evolution.

Gigantopithécus, or giant ape (Gigantopaithés) is an extinct species of giant great ape. Known from numerous fossil remains from China and India. Remains and traces of Gigantopithecus have been found not only in India, but also in Nepal and possibly Tibet. Lived in the Miocene and Pleistocene (middle and late Pliocene), body length up to 3 m. The main specialization of the arms was the verticalization of the body and the use of branches as fighting weapons.

Gigantopithecus were exceptionally adapted to forest living conditions: they led an arboreal lifestyle, but often descended to the ground to collect berries and nuts, or to kill prey. The remains of Gigantopithecus were discovered near the Nilgiri range, where their habitat was located. This indicated that they did not live there permanently, but moved around the territory.

Most scientists agree that the order of primates to which Gigantopithecus belonged went extinct about 1 million years ago. There are several scientific points of view about when and how this genus could have disappeared. Some experts suggest that Gigantopithecus may have died from an epidemic of a mysterious disease that could wipe out all long-toothed mammals, leaving only the hypothetical Titanophoneus tarsier and other descendants of ancient mammals, if considered the ancestors of living species such as bearded tygydyks, deinocaprons, irraptoids and rudiphonites. But there is also speculation about an alternative version of the extinction, that hypothetical other Gigantopithecus - the lingua franca - would have been successful in some areas, and this led to their successful elimination