Current:Home > StocksThe largest great ape to ever live went extinct because of climate change, says new study -Wealthify
The largest great ape to ever live went extinct because of climate change, says new study
View
Date:2025-04-13 22:01:36
WASHINGTON (AP) — An ancient species of great ape was likely driven to extinction when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists reported Wednesday.
The species Gigantopithecus blacki, which once lived in southern China, represents the largest great ape known to scientists — standing 10 feet tall and weighing up to 650 pounds.
But its size may also have been a weakness.
“It’s just a massive animal – just really, really big,” said Renaud Joannes-Boyau, a researcher at Australia’s Southern Cross University and co-author of the study published in the journal Nature. “When food starts to be scarce, it’s so big it can’t climb trees to explore new food sources.”
The giant apes, which likely resembled modern orangutans, survived for around 2 million years on the forested plains of China’s Guangxi region. They ate vegetarian diets, munching on fruits and flowers in tropical forests, until the environment began to change.
The researchers analyzed pollen and sediment samples preserved in Guangxi’s caves, as well as fossil teeth, to unravel how forests produced fewer fruits starting around 600,000 years ago, as the region experienced more dry seasons.
The giant apes didn’t vanish quickly, but likely went extinct sometime between 215,000 and 295,000 years ago, the researchers found.
While smaller apes may have been able to climb trees to search for different food, the researchers’ analysis shows the giant apes ate more tree bark, reeds and other non-nutritious food.
“When the forest changed, there was not enough food preferred by the species,” said co-author Zhang Yingqi of China’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology.
Most of what scientists know about the extinct great apes comes from studying fossil teeth and four large lower jaw bones, all found in southern China. No complete skeletons have been found.
Between around 2 and 22 million years ago, several dozen species of great apes inhabited Africa, Europe and Asia, fossil records show. Today, only gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans and humans remain.
While the first humans emerged in Africa, scientists don’t know on which continent the great ape family first arose, said Rick Potts, who directs the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and was not involved in the study.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
veryGood! (11114)
Related
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Cyclone Michaung flooding inundates Chennai airport in India as cars are swept down streets
- The holidays are here. So is record credit card debt. How 6 Americans are coping.
- Prosecutor to drop charges against 17 Austin police officers for force used in 2020 protests
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Trevor Lawrence leaves Jacksonville Jaguars' MNF game with ankle injury
- US unveils global strategy to commercialize fusion as source of clean energy during COP28
- Two Americans detained in Venezuela ask Biden to secure release as deadline passes
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Moody’s cuts China credit outlook to negative, cites slowing economic growth, property crisis
Ranking
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- Several killed in bombing during Catholic mass in Philippines
- Jake Browning steals spotlight as Bengals stun Jaguars 34-31 in OT. Trevor Lawrence injures ankle
- Here's why NASA's mission to put humans back on the moon likely won't happen on time
- Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie return for an 'Encore,' reminisce about 'The Simple Life'
- UConn falls to worst ranking in 30 years in women’s AP Top 25; South Carolina, UCLA stay atop poll
- Victim's father gives emotional testimony at trial of serial killer's widow: Trauma and sadness
- U.S. warship, commercial ships encounter drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea, officials say
Recommendation
Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
Republican leaders of Wisconsin Legislature at odds over withholding university pay raises
US agency to watch unrecalled Takata inflators after one blows apart, injuring a driver in Chicago
NHL Stanley Cup playoff bracket: League standings, potential first-round matchups
'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
Prosecutors push back against Hunter Biden’s move to subpoena Trump documents in gun case
Allison Williams' new podcast revisits the first murder trial in U.S. history: A test drive for the Constitution
NFL made unjustifiable call to eject 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw for sideline scrap