Gigantopithecus

[ jahy-gan-toh-pi-thee-kuhs, -pith-i-kuhs, ji- ]

noun

1. a genus of extinct ape of southern Asia existing during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs, known only from very large fossil jaws and teeth and believed to be perhaps the biggest hominoid that ever lived.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gigantopithecus¹

1940–45; < New Latin < Greek gigant- (stem of gígās ) giant + -o- -o- + píthēkos ape

Example Sentences

As the forested home of Gigantopithecus rapidly changed, the ape couldn’t adapt to the expanding grasslands.

From National Geographic

Published today in Nature, a new study combines geological dates, pollen records, and clues preserved inside fossil teeth to present a detailed timeline of when, and how, Gigantopithecus blacki went extinct.

From National Geographic

Westaway worked to come up with more accurate dates for the sediments that Gigantopithecus fossils have been found in.

From National Geographic

If the researchers could work out the timing, then they could better investigate what the world of Gigantopithecus might have been like—and what could have eradicated the ape.

From National Geographic

While experts had previously speculated that Gigantopithecus was driven to extinction as their preferred forest habitats became sparser, the known fossils of the ape lacked defined dates to test the idea.

From National Geographic