Report: Huge primates died out because they couldn't adapt to changing climate

Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Gigantic primates that lived in China until hundreds of thousands of years ago died off because of their inability to adapt to changing climate conditions, according to a new paper from Chinese and Australian researchers and published in the journal Nature.

The 9-foot-tall Gigantopithecus blacki is believed to have lived from about 5 million years ago until a little over 200,000 years ago and is thought to be the largest primate to have ever existed.

Using multiple dating techniques, including luminescence-dating, the researchers were able to determine the time period of fossilized teeth from specific sights.

Researchers used a technique called dental microwear textural analysis to study fossilized teeth from the primates to deduce their diet and behavior at different times in the history of the extinct species.

"By direct-dating the fossil remains, we confirmed their age aligns with the luminescence sequence in the sediments where they were found," said researcher Renaud Joannes-Boyau of Southern Cross University.

According to Joannes-Boyau, the dating provides a "comprehensive and reliable chronology for the extinction of G. Blacki."

Researchers also studied pollen and other organic material in caves where G. blacki were known to live.

The researchers found that the diet of G. blacki likely changed as the climate around them changed, forcing them to fall back on less preferable foods.

"This might have forced G blacki to adapt its diet from higher nutritionally preferred components in lower supply to less nutritional fallback foods in plentiful supply," the researchers wrote in the paper.

The researchers said they hope that the study of extinct species will offer insight that can help prevent future extinction events.