How The Possible Cousin of Bigfoot Became Extinct


The extinct giant ape, Gigantopithecus blacki, is a species of large hominoids that dominated the Pleistocene of South China. Its massive mandible, large postcanine teeth and extremely thick enamel compelled scientists to investigate what their precise diet and habitat were like.

Within the Bigfoot community, the general consensus of where Bigfoot came from is based on the "Bigfoot-Giganto Theory (hypothesis)". The Bigfoot-Giganto hypothesis suggests that Bigfoots are surviving relatives of the genus Gigantopithecus.

Recently, scientists have been able to analyze the carbon isotopes of 32 fossilized tooth samples from a Gigantopithecus jaw and discovered that Gigantopithecus most likely lived in closed forest habitats and only ate plants that grew in warm weather. The teeth of Gigantopithecus also provided clues to why the ape disappeared.

In a blog post from blogs.smithsonianmag.com, the Gigantopithecus population started dwindling about 1.6 million to 800,000 years ago. This is around the same time that the rising of the Tibetan plateau altered the climate of South Asia, ushering in a colder, drier period that led to the shrinking of forests.

Further evidence of Gigantopithecus‘ food preferences and habitat was published last November. Zhao LingXia of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues analyzed carbon isotopes in a sample of Gigantopithecus teeth. Plants have different forms of carbon based on their type of photosynthesis; this carbon footprint is then recorded in the teeth of animals that eat plants. The team determined Gigantopithecus—and the animals living alongside it, such as deer, horses and bears—ate only C3 plants, evidence the ape lived in a forested environment. This work also supports the proposed bamboo diet, as bamboo is a C3 plant.

So what happened to this Pleistocene Yeti? Zhang’s team suggested the rise of the Tibetan plateau 1.6 million to 800,000 years ago altered the climate of South Asia, ushering in a colder, drier period when forests shrank. Other factors could have exacerbated this crisis. Gigantopithecus‘s neighbor, Homo erectus, may have over-hunted and/or outcompeted their larger ape cousin. And at least one dental study indicates Gigantopithecus developed and matured very slowly—a sign they probably had low reproductive rates, which can elevate a species’ risk of going extinct.

Some Bigfoot hunters say Gigantopithecus is alive and well, hiding out in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Other Sasquatch enthusiasts, however, point out this is unlikely, as Bigfoot is reported to be a swift, agile, upright walker—not a lumbering, 1,200-pound quadruped.

Comments

  1. Thanks Shawn good article for newcomers and others.

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  2. Yup. I was in the camp of the blacki too and I still think there are some distinct similarities that over time could have evolved in the direction they did, but there is a very primal part of me that feels BF is closer to human.

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  3. An excellent overview of claims that Gigantopithecus is Bigfoot:

    http://www.skepticblog.org/2011/12/28/gigantopithecus-and-crackpot-cryptozoologists/

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  4. or it could be that Bigfoot is bullshit, plain and simple. Funny they didnt mention that all of the G. blackii information was derived from FOUR TEETH!! About as likely to be BF as Justin-liar Smeja actually shooting a primate in N California. LOL people, get a life. BF either is real or not, and if so where is the DAMN evidence? Oh yeah Dr. Ketchum will prove it alll soon, thats right!! To anyone on this site-get a freakin life! Fairies might be real too but they are so damn eliusive LOL!!

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    Replies
    1. Yet, you waste your time here. Insulting people in hopes that somehow, someone will reply back to you with even dumber insult. Everybody has a life, Whatever they do in their life does not concern you, and does not need you soft-minded input on how they should live their lives.

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    2. Thousands of fossil teeth and partial Jawbones, actually. Gigantopithecus is not a myth, it is a giant 'extinct' ape.

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  5. To The Real Bigfoot above-WHY are you here if that's the way you feel? Why would I listen to you and where's the evidence that proves he/she Bigfoot is not here.

    Troll away if that's what rings your bells,but leave us alone.

    Unless your name is really Tim and don't like the comments your article received?

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  6. TRB--above. It seems you are the one without a life, you sad little creature. You go onto a site about something you feel that vehemently does not exist. We all have lives, we're engaged in intellectual discussions of which simple unevolved minds such as yours cannot grasp the concepts. Please, go back and play with your Legos, baby dear, and let the grownups talk. Oh, and wipe your nose with a Kleenex and not your shirt this time.

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    Replies
    1. Red on that head doesn't equal fire in the bad. Smelly I heard....

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  7. I would have to say that 'The Real Bigfoot' and gigantopithecus-and-crackpot-cryptozoologists skeptics are painting fans of big foot in a very bad and insulting light that we do not deserve.

    We are not "freaks" or "crackpots" and we do have "freakin lives".

    I would have to describe people like us as romantics that love the idea of mysteries and discoveries of the unknown. It would be very exciting for all of us to have the DNA evidence come out and be indisputable. It would be like how people got all excited about the discovery of Homo floresiensis, the "hobbit-like" people discovered in Indonesian. Until that discovery midget hobbit like people were considered myth.

    We are not freaks or crackpots, just romantics that love the idea of discoveries like this.

    Chad

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  8. Oh yeah, apes are definitely capable of samurai chatter...

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  9. look I used to believe too, but the more time, studies and hoaxes drag on with no evidence for support, the more intelligent people say " bigfoot is bullcrap". Not here to make enemies, just amazed that people put their faith in an IDIOT like Matt Moneymaker, a retired DVM and several known LIARS and upstanding tools like Justin Smeja, in order to prove that another hominid lives right in our backyard. I was raised in Eureka CA and grew up camping near Bluff Creek and many times where Smeja supposedly murdered a non-existent entity and trust me THERE IS NO BIGFOOT only natives and pot growers. "leave us alone" LOL! Someone make me somehow believe in Ketchums DNA study, PlEASE. You cant because I'm educated, logical,and intelligent!

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  10. TRB;
    You poor poor lost lamb. So, what exactly was your purpose of going on here? You seem angry that you don't believe. I have nothing to offer you on that front. I don't follow Matt-he's a tool. I have seen it myself and it is something that cannot be explained away. There are believers who take it on faith, nonbelievers who are atheistic about and then there are those who are agnostic--they will KNOW it when they see it (not believe--KNOW). I know. I wish two things for your:
    1. You come to peace with your disbelief and walk away from the discussion because it seems to upset you so much that no one will give you what you seek.
    2. You encounter it with your own eyes and then be humbled by the experience.

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  11. @Autumn.
    You've probably addressed this before, but I don't know the answer. What are your religious beleifs? What do you think is more likely to exist? Bigfoot or God? My wife is an athiest and doesn't beleive in bigfoot, but she told me last week that there's a better chance that bigfoot exists than God. I guess I feel the same way, which is why I hope to hell there's a bigfoot. Then again, neither of us beleive in the supernatural, whereas you do. God, to us is a supernatural idea, like ghosts, whereas bigfoot to me, is a flesh and blood animal.

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  12. Well, I would have to say that Big foot is not supernatural, but a real flesh and blood animal.
    I don't believe God exists, I "know" that God exists. I had a near death experience and I met God. It was the most humbling experience I have ever had, bar none. This is why I love to believe in things like Bigfoot. If God does exist, then there must also be something to these mysteries like Bigfoot.
    Chad

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    Replies
    1. So was it Krishna? Or Cosmic Jewish Zombie? How about Bhudda? Or Maybe Horus? Zeus? Thor? Zoroaster? Mithras? Attis? Dionysus-Bacchus? Romulus? Heracles? Glycon? Or perhaps just your brain reacting and spreading chemicals that make you hallucinate. Nothing more. Bigfoot is not like "god." Bigfoot is a cousin from our evolution. God is just like any other made up myth from people who have daddy issues.

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