Gigantopithecus was a type of primate during the Pleistocene Epoch(2.6 millions to 11,700 years ago.) They lived in Southern China in tropical forests. They lived in this location for about 7 million years until just about 100,000 years ago they went extinct. Gigantopithecus all died out because they were forced to adapt to eating savannah grass when they would usually be eating bamboo and forest fruit. This forced adaptation proved to difficult for the species.
Gigantopithecus is said to be a sister to the primate Pongo. A study in 2019 showed that they both did indeed share a common ancestor.
Gigantopithecus remains have mostly been found in caves in Southern China. This further proves that they must have been restricted to this region. However, similar fossils and remains were discovered in Northern Vietnam and Thailand, these new pieces of evidence could represent another specimen with even larger geological range. It also has been argued that some of the fossils found in Northern Vietnam and Thailand were in fact Gigantopithecus teeth and even that these massive beasts may have lived on the same land as Homo Erectus.
Gigantopithecus was said to be around 10 feet tall and weighed about 500 pounds. These stats make them the largest ever hominoid!
-Max Long