PermeateFree said:
>>Proteins from a 1.9 million-year-old molar show that the 10-foot-tall ‘Gigantopithecus’ is a distant relative to modern orangutans
Western scientists first learned about extinct giant ape species Gigantopithecus blacki—the largest primate to ever exist—in 1935 when an anthropologist came across some of its massive molars in Chinese drug stores selling them as dragon teeth. Since then, researchers have identified thousands of teeth and a few partial jawbones from the creature. With these pieces in hand, they’ve tried to fit the bigfoot-like ape into the primate family tree. Without any usable DNA, however, the task has been difficult.<<
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/greatest-ape-molar-proteins-shed-light-largest-primate-ever-exist-180973554/
> Western scientists first learned about extinct giant ape species Gigantopithecus blacki—the largest primate to ever exist—in 1935 when an anthropologist came across some of its massive molars in Chinese drug stores selling them as dragon teeth. Since then, researchers have identified thousands of teeth and a few partial jawbones from the creature. With these pieces in hand, they’ve tried to fit the bigfoot-like ape into the primate family tree. Without any usable DNA, however, the task has been difficult.
> Now, using proteins in dental enamel, researchers report they’ve finally found how the Gigantopithecus fits into the great ape puzzle, according to a new study published in the journal Nature.
Lovely work, I’d almost totally forgotten about Gigantopithecus, haven’t heard about it in at least 30 years.
This should help in the currently active debate about whether the last common ancestor of orangs and gorillas lived in Africa or Asia, a debate that has been boiling slowly for at least 160 years. Being closer to Orangs than Gorillas, it doesn’t rule out the possibility that the last ancestor of the two came from Africa.
Now if someone would please do the same thing with fossils of heidelbergensis please