GigantopithecusOnline Biology Dictionary
This ape, often called "Giganto," lived long ago in the jungles of southeast Asia, but is now known only from fossils. It was first discovered in 1935 by the German-Dutch paleontologist Ralph von Koenigswald, who found a huge molar (see image below) while looking through fossil teeth in a Hong Kong pharmacy. Chinese apothecaries have long used powdered fossils, which they call "dragon's bones," in medicines.
The dirt on the teeth, and the fact that their roots had been gnawed by porcupines, indicated they had come from cave deposits. Since they were found mixed with middle-Pleistocene panda and elephant fossils, von Koenigswald estimated their age at 125,000 to 700,000 years. Von Koenigswald, who was born a German but later became a Dutch citizen, was taken prisoner by the Japanese on the island of Java during World War II. He had to hide his small collection of Giganto teeth by burying them in a milk bottle until after the war. This ape has been described solely from fossil teeth and jaws. Modern analyses have shown the earliest Giganto specimens are about 6.3 million years old (late Miocene); the most recent date to about 300,000 years ago. Humans (Homo erectus) arrived in the region where Gigantopithecus lived about 800,000 years ago. So the two lived together for about half a million years. The shape of its teeth, and the phytoliths embedded in them, indicate this animal had an herbivorous diet, probably including both bamboo and fruit. The molars, about an inch wide, are far larger than those of any other primate described to date. The canines differ from those of apes and humans in that they have rounded, not pointed, ends. Scientists today are still looking for specimens of Giganto in the limestone caves of southeast Asia and additional finds have expanded the known geographic range of this animal from China to include both India and Vietnam.
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