Reason for the extinction of the largest primate to ever live revealed

A study conducted in China has revealed that the Gigantopithecus blacki primate, which went extinct between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, perished because it could not adapt to environmental changes caused by climate change.

The study, published in the journal Nature, addressed the extinction process of Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest primate to have ever lived on Earth and a member of the Asian ape family.

To shed light on the extinction process of Gigantopithecus blacki, which died out between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, scientists conducted research in 22 caves in Southern China. They determined that the primate, which was approximately 2.5-3 meters tall and weighed 350-400 kilograms, experienced population declines and eventually went extinct as a result of changing habitats and dietary preferences linked to seasonal shifts.

Evaluating the research findings, Dr. Alper Yener Yavuz, a faculty member at the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, stated that the first findings regarding the Gigantopithecus genus were identified in the 1910s and that the research initiated during that period concluded with the study completed in the early days of 2024.

Stating that Gigantopithecus blacki lived in a time frame spanning from 2 million to 200,000 years ago and that research gained momentum with the discovery of the primate's teeth in China in 1935, Yavuz noted that as part of the latest studies, teeth, jaws, and other body parts found in caves in China, along with other faunal remains, were examined comprehensively.

"THERE WAS A VERY SERIOUS CLIMATE CHANGE"

Noting that when a species experiences food shortages and cannot find a suitable habitat, it is forced to migrate, change if it does not migrate, or go extinct if it does not change, Yavuz said, "There was a very serious climate change at that time; it was the last ice age as we know it. But the problem here was not freezing to death because the weather was too cold; this situation affected not only animals but also plants, flora, and the ecosystem, and we realize that Gigantopithecus blacki could not adapt to the changing climate and flora. The study also states that species in the changing animal fauna went extinct because they could not compete with other animals that ate the same food."

Pointing out that environmental factors altered by climate change pushed Gigantopithecus blacki, which fed on plant sources such as fruits, fruit seeds, and pine cones, toward completely different dietary preferences, Yavuz explained that even if the primate could access its primary food sources, it experienced food-related problems as a result of significant changes in its secondary food sources.

Emphasizing that the complete jaw fragment found in the caves in China formed the basis of the study, Yavuz mentioned that thanks to the 2,000 teeth obtained, it was proven that Gigantopithecus blacki fed on items such as nuts, fruit pits, or pine cones.

Prof. Dr. Murat Türkeş, a member of the Board of Directors of the Boğaziçi University Center for Climate Change and Policy Studies, reported that during the transition from the Pliocene period, which occurred approximately 7 to 2.6 million years ago, to the Quaternary period, which has occurred over the last 2.6 million years, first warm and then cold conditions were influential.

Stating that the period in which Gigantopithecus blacki lived corresponds to the time interval called the early-middle Pleistocene, Türkeş shared the information that distinct successive glacial and interglacial ages occurred in the middle-late phase of the Pleistocene period.

Underlining that a transition was made to a period where air temperatures decreased, sea levels dropped, and most atmospheric precipitation remained as permanent snow and ice with the ice age, Türkeş continued as follows:

"We see that Gigantopithecus blacki's lineage went extinct over time due to environmental changes. The period when the primate's lineage went extinct corresponds mainly to the ice age and relatively cold conditions. There is a relatively cold ice age effect in the interval up to the period between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago when this primate species went extinct, but a warming trend is seen again during the process of its extinction."

Explaining that environmental changes during the transition from a climate with lower seasonality to a period with higher seasonality turned dense forests into sparse open forests, shrublands, and grasslands, and that the major change in vegetation pushed the herbivorous Gigantopithecus blacki to exert more effort to find food, Türkeş said:

"The most important thing is the decrease in food, the difficulty in finding it, and consequently the increase in enemies and the decrease in reproductive success due to lowered immunity. Perhaps the primates were affected by these as diseases and pests increased along with environmental conditions. The increase in climate variability and the increase in seasonality, which causes changes of this magnitude in ecosystems, is also proof that it leads to significant changes in natural vegetation."

Türkeş added that according to the research in question, a few species thought to be close relatives of Gigantopithecus blacki were able to shape their dietary preferences and behaviors in accordance with changing conditions, but the large primate went extinct after showing signs of chronic stress and declining population because it could not adapt to the climate, vegetation, environment, food, and food access conditions.