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| authority = [[von Koenigswald]], 1935<ref name=Koenigswald1935>{{cite journal|last1=von Koenigswald|first1=G. H. R.|title=Eine fossile Säugetierfauna mit Simia aus Südchina|journal=Proceedings of the Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam|date=1935|volume=38|issue=8|pages=874–879|url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/DL/publications/PU00016780.pdf|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=12 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212084230/http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/DL/publications/PU00016780.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
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'''''Gigantopithecus''''' ({{IPAc-en|d|ʒ|aɪ|ˌ|g|æ|n|t|oʊ|p|ɪ|ˈ|θ|i|k|ə|s|,_|ˈ|p|ɪ|θ|ɪ|k|ə|s|,_|d|ʒ|ɪ|-}} {{respell|jy|gan|toh|pih|THEE|kəs|,_|-PITH|ih|kəs|,_|jih-}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gigantopithecus|title=Definition of gigantopithecus {{!}} Dictionary.com|website=dictionary.com|language=en|access-date=2 October 2022|archive-date=3 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003015831/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gigantopithecus|url-status=live}}</ref>){{efn|name=title|{{lit|giant ape}}; from [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|γίγας}} ({{translit|grc|gígas}}), meaning 'giant', and {{lang|grc|πίθηκος}} ({{translit|grc|píthekos}}), meaning 'ape'}} is an extinct [[genus]] of [[ape]] that lived in central to southern China from 2 million to approximately 200,000–300,000 years ago during the [[Early Pleistocene|Early]] to [[Middle Pleistocene]], represented by one species, '''''Gigantopithecus blacki'''''. Potential identifications have also been made in [[Thailand]], [[Vietnam]], and [[Indonesia]], but they could be misidentified remains of the orangutan ''[[Pongo weidenreichi]]''. The first remains of ''Gigantopithecus'', two third-[[molar (tooth)|molar]] teeth, were identified in a drugstore by anthropologist [[Ralph von Koenigswald]] in 1935, who subsequently [[species description|described]] the ape. In 1956, the first mandible and more than 1,000 teeth were found in [[Liucheng County|Liucheng]], and numerous more remains have since been found in at least 16 sites. Only teeth and four mandibles are known currently, and other skeletal elements were likely consumed by [[Old World porcupine|porcupines]] before they could fossilise.<ref name=ZhangHarrison2017/><ref name=Zhang2024/> ''Gigantopithecus'' was once argued to be a [[hominin]], a member of the [[human]] line, but it is now thought to be closely allied with [[orangutan]]s, classified in the subfamily [[Ponginae]].
''Gigantopithecus'' has traditionally been restored as a massive, [[gorilla]]-like ape, potentially {{convert|200|-|300|kg|abbr=in}} when alive, but the paucity of remains make total size estimates highly speculative. The species may have been [[sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]], with males much bigger than females. The incisors are reduced and the canines appear to have functioned like [[cheek teeth]] ([[premolar]]s and molars). The premolars are high-[[crown (tooth)|crowned]], and the fourth premolar is very molar-like. The molars are the largest of any known ape, and have a relatively flat surface. ''Gigantopithecus'' had the thickest [[tooth enamel|enamel]] by absolute measure of any ape, up to {{convert|6|mm|in|abbr=in|frac=4}} in some areas, though this is only fairly thick when tooth size is taken into account.
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===Research history===
[[Image:F. Schrenk mit Gigantopithecus-Molar 2005.jpg|thumb|left|{{Interlanguage link multi|Friedemann Schrenk|de}} holding the [[holotype]] ''Gigantopithecus blacki'' [[Molar (tooth)|molar]]]]
''Gigantopithecus blacki'' was named by anthropologist [[Ralph von Koenigswald]] in 1935 based on two third lower [[molar teeth]], which, he noted, were of enormous size (the first was "''Ein gewaltig grosser (...) Molar''", the second was described as "''der enorme Grösse besitzt''"), measuring {{convert|20|x|22|mm|abbr=in|frac=8}}.<ref name=Koenigswald1935/> The specific name ''blacki'' is in honour of Canadian palaeoanthropologist [[Davidson Black]], who had studied human evolution in China and had died the previous year. Von Koenigswald, working for the [[Dutch East Indies]] Mineralogical Survey on Java, had found the teeth in a drugstore in [[Hong Kong]] where they were being sold as "[[dragon bones]]" to be used in [[traditional Chinese medicine]]. By 1939, after purchasing more teeth, he determined they had originated somewhere in [[Guangdong]] or [[Guangxi]]. He could not formally describe the [[type specimen]] until 1952 due to his [[internment]] by Japanese forces during [[World War II]]. The originally discovered teeth are part of the collection of the [[University of Utrecht]].<ref name=ZhangHarrison2017/><ref name=Hartwig2002/> While on [[Java]], with the onset of [[World War II]], von Koenigswald put the ''Gigantopithecus'' teeth in a milk bottle and buried them in a friend's backyard before being interned by Japanese forces. After the war, he moved to [[New York City]] and could not continue research on the subject.<ref name=Zhang2024/>
In 1955, a survey team that was led by Chinese palaeontologist [[Pei Wenzhong]] was tasked by the Chinese [[Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology|Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology]] (IVPP) with finding the original ''Gigantopithecus'' locality. They collected 47 teeth among shipments of "dragon bones" in Guangdong and Guangxi. In 1956, the team discovered the first ''[[in situ]]'' remains, a third molar and [[premolar]], in a cave (subsequently named "''Gigantopithecus'' Cave") in [[Niusui Mountain]], Guangxi. Also in 1956, [[Liucheng County|Liucheng]] farmer
Confirmed ''Gigantopithecus'' remains have since been found in 16 different sites across southern China. The northernmost sites are {{ill|Longgupo|de|Longgupo-Höhle}} and [[Longgu Cave]], just south of the [[Yangtze River]], and southernmost on Hainan Island in the [[South China Sea]]. An isolated canine from [[Thẩm Khuyên Cave]], Vietnam, and a fourth premolar from [[Pha Bong]], Thailand, could possibly be assigned to ''Gigantopithecus'', though these could also represent the extinct orangutan ''[[Pongo weidenreichi]]''.<ref name=ZhangHarrison2017/>
===Classification===
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== Extinction ==
''Gigantopithecus'' fossil sites range across Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan and Hubei Provinces, but those post-dating about 400,000 years ago are only known from Guangxi. Its youngest definitive remains in China are roughly 295,000 to 215,000 years old.<ref name="NAT-20240110"/> Two possible teeth (PIN 5792/439 and PIN 5792/490) have been reported from the [[Late Pleistocene]] deposit in Vietnam,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lopatin |first1=A. V. |last2=Maschenko |first2=E. N. |last3=Dac |first3=Le Xuan |year=2022 |title=''Gigantopithecus blacki'' (Primates, Ponginae) from the Lang Trang Cave (Northern Vietnam): The Latest ''Gigantopithecus'' in the Late Pleistocene? |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1134/S0012496622010069 |journal=Doklady Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=502 |issue=1 |pages=6–10 |doi=10.1134/S0012496622010069 |pmid=35298746 |s2cid=254413457 |issn=0012-4966|url-access=subscription }}</ref> but these could actually belong to ''P. weidenreichi''.<ref name=Zhang2024>{{cite journal|
Human activity in southern China is known as early as 800,000 years ago but does not become prevalent until after the extinction of ''Gigantopithecus'', so it is unclear if pressures such as competition over resources or overhunting were factors.<ref name="Ciochon2009">{{cite journal |last=Ciochon |first=Russell L. |author-link=Russell Ciochon |date=17 June 2009 |title=The mystery ape of Pleistocene Asia |journal=Nature |volume=459 |issue=7249 |pages=910–911 |bibcode=2009Natur.459..910C |doi=10.1038/459910a |pmid=19536242 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In 2024, Zhang and colleagues found no evidence of archaic hominin involvement in the extinctions of any southern Chinese animal.<ref name="NAT-20240110"/>
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