Scientists may have finally solved the mystery of why the largest ape ever to walk Earth went extinct, with new evidence suggesting the giant ape struggled to adapt to climate change.
In a new study published Jan. 10 in the journal Nature, scientists found that the largest known primate, Gigantopithecus blacki likely died out between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago after it failed to adapt its diet or behaviors to environmental changes that began around 700,000 years ago and put its dense forest habitat in what is now China under threat.
