Many of the caves containing Gigantopithecus fossils have been found in Guangxi's distinctive karst landscape. “The early caves at 2 million years old have hundreds of teeth, but the younger caves around the extinction period — there are only 3-4 … teeth,” Westaway said. Isotope analysis of elements such as carbon and oxygen contained in the Gigantopithecus teeth helped the researchers understand how the animal’s diet may have changed over time. Kira Westaway/Macquarie UniversityQuestions remainNo Gigantopithecus fossils from the neck down have ever been found and documented. A November 2019 analysis of proteins found in a Gigantopithecus fossil suggested its closest living relative is the Bornean orangutan.

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Persons: King Kong ” —, G.H.R, von Koenigswald, Gigantopithecus, “, ”, Renaud Joannes, Boyau, Yingqi Zhang, Kira Westaway, We’ve, Westaway, Zhang, ” Westaway, Feng Cave, It’s, Wang Wei, Wang Organizations: CNN, colossus, Southern Cross University, Macquarie University, Shandong University’s Institute of Cultural Heritage Locations: Hong Kong, China, Australia, Guangxi, Vietnam, Asia, Shandong, Qingdao, Indonesia, what’s, Bose