Back in the 1930s, paleontologists discovered the fossilized remains of the largest ape known to have ever walked the earth. Standing as much as ten feet tall and weighing more than a quarter of a ton, they named the creature Gigantopithecus and it is only known to have lived in southern China. The ape is believed to have gone extinct between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago. This may seem like a rather odd story to be discussing here, but Gigantopithecus was back in the news this week in the journal Nature for a peculiar reason. A group of scientists has concluded that the monster ape was driven to extinction by climate change. Before all of our friends on the left start leaping to their feet and screaming ‘We told you so,’ we should look at the details of what these scientists are talking about. (Associated Press)
An ancient species of great ape was likely driven to extinction…
