Advertisement

Advertisement

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.



Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gigantopithecus1

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The samples included both modern and archaic humans such as Neanderthals, early human ancestors like Australopithecus africanus, and extinct great apes including Gigantopithecus blacki.

Read more on Science Daily

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

Read more on 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.

Read more on National Geographic

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

Read more on 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.

Read more on National Geographic

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


gigantomachygigaton