News Paleontology

Earth’s largest ape went extinct 100,000 years earlier than once thought

Gigantopithecus blacki couldn’t adapt to the shift from forest to savanna-like habitats

Artist reconstruction of Gigantopithecus blacki.

Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest ape known on Earth (shown in this artist’s rendition), died out between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, researchers say.

J. Garcia, R. Joannes-Boyau/Southern Cross University

By Carolyn Gramling

The world’s largest ape vanished from Earth more than 100,000 years earlier than once thought, pushed to extinction as the environment around it shifted, researchers report January 10 in Nature.