Gigantopithecus

/juy gan'toh pi thee"keuhs, -pith"i keuhs, ji-/, n.

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.

[1940-45; < NL < Gk gigant- (s. of gígas) GIANT + -o- -O- + píthekos ape]

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▪ ape genus

      genus of large fossil ape, of which two species are known: Gigantopithecus bilaspurensis, which lived 6 to 9 million years ago in India, and Gigantopithecus blacki, which lived in China until at least 1 million years ago. These apes are known from teeth, lower jaw bones, and possibly a piece of distal humerus. They were large in size, perhaps larger than gorillas. They lived in open country and had powerful grinding and chewing teeth.

      The first specimens were found by the German-Dutch paleontologist G.H.R. von Koenigswald in Chinese drugstores, where they were known as “dragon's teeth.” The teeth, though large, have a few similarities to human teeth, and this led some paleomorphologists to speculate that humans might have had “giant” ancestors. Later discoveries of complete jaw bones demonstrated that they were from extinct apes.

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