World’s Largest Ape – Gigantopithecus Blacki
Standing 3 meters (10 feet) tall and weighing in at an astonishing 1300lbs (600 kilos) we have Gigantopithecus blacki. The world’s largest ape. To give some perspective, a silverback Gorilla weighs around 150 kilos and stands about 1.6 meters tall.
Only trouble is, it went extinct at least 100,000 years ago. I know, I’m disappointed too. But let’s discuss a few things about this amazing animal, maybe it’ll you’ll perk up.
First identified in 1935, these apes lived around Southeast Asia from two million years ago up to 100,000 years ago. Living on a diet of fruits, leaves and forest plants, which were plentiful at the time. It died out because of a failure to adapt to a changing climate during the Pleistocene era. As forested area’s turned into grasslands, the huge amount of food Gigantopithecus blacki needed was simply not available. Couple this with the tendency for larger animals to only have one or two offspring and the writing was on the wall.
Relatives did survive.
Namely the orangutans. These gentle apes are known to be its closest living relative. We know this because scientists obtained molecular evidence from a two million year old molar fossil found in a Chinese cave.
Apart from this, our knowledge of the world’s largest ape is extremely limited.
Here’s why.
We think it must have buried its dead. We believe this because so far only jaw bones and teeth have been found. If this is true it shows a remarkable level of cognitive thinking. A giant ape living two million years ago who mourns the dead and actively buries them must have understood the finality of death.
Bigfoot Links
There is nothing scientific in the next part. All of it is pure speculation on the parts of others. But I found it interesting enough to add in here. A large number of Bigfoot enthusiasts believe that Gigantopithecus Blacki is Bigfoot.
Why?
Due to what you have already read above. The world’s largest ape, lives in forests, eats only what it can forage and buries its dead leaving no trace. A pretty good match, at first glance.
But how did it get from Southeast Asia to the United States? Across the Bering land bridge according to Grover Krantz and Geoffrey H. Bourne. These proponents of Bigfoot genuinely believe that Sasquatch is a relict population of Gigantopithecus.
Could this be the legendary Bigfoot? Probably not, Gigantopithecus Blacki was more than likely a quadrupedal, walking on all fours, not upright like Bigfoot or the Yeti. It is a fun thought exercise however and handily explains why there has never been a Bigfoot body found.
Sources:
Secrets of the largest ape that ever lived (bbc.co.uk)
The Largest Ape That Ever Was (nationalgeographic.com)
Header Image (pixabay.com)