Wanhsien tiger ~

[GuateGojira]

(09-09-2018, 11:00 AM)Wolverine Wrote: Excuse me guys but I think that main reason for the extinction of giganto was a climate change. Probably the giant ape was narrowly specialized on bamboo (or some other plant) as food so when due to changed natural conditions (precipitation, temperatures etc.) bamboo in big areas of Asia ceased to grow and in result highly dependable on this plants giganto disappeared. Same will happen now with giant panda if you destroy all the bamboo in Chinese mountains, panda just cant eat and her stomach digest anything else than this plant. This is the price of too narrow food specialization.

To be honest, I don't touched the point about why the Gigantophitecus got extint. Surelly this big primate was prey of tigers, but I also don't think that it was the main reason of its extinction. Climate change must be the real season, just like you say. In fact, if the Gigantophitecus was larger or smaller is irrelevant, I think that even when the jungles of China and South East Asia were full of tigers, the great cat evolved to prey ungulates like deer, boar and wild cattle. Primates are not a main prey of tigers in any part of Asia. Also, the Giganto probably had some type of predation avoidence strategy, probably an especial one for great cats.

So, why the great apes got extinct and the great cats, deers, boars and smaller apes survived? I think that you made the correct answer. I don´t know the probable date of extinction of the Gigantophitecus, but also we must remember the great Toba eruption at about 75,000 years ago, that could be a main reason of extinction, for many other species. Reply