Scientists have known about Gigantopithecus blackii since the accidental discovery of some of its teeth on sale in a Hong Kong pharmacy about 80 years ago. While the idea of a giant ape piqued the interest of scientists – and bigfoot hunters – around the world, it was unclear how long ago this beast went extinct.
Now Jack Rink, a geochronologist at McMaster University in Ontario, has used a high-precision absolute-dating method to determine that this ape – the largest primate ever – roamed Southeast Asia for nearly a million years before the species died out 100,000 years ago during the Pleistocene period. By this time, humans had existed for a million years.
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Indonesian Crow Rediscovered
The all-black Banggai Crow (Corvus unicolor), known to science only by two specimens described in 1900, was found again by Indonesian biologists on Peleng Island, off the east coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, in 2007. Pamela Rasmussen, a Michigan State University zoologist verified the finding.
Origin Of Komodo Dragon Revealed
Scientists now find that the world’s largest living lizard species, the Komodo dragon, most likely evolved in Australia and dispersed westward to its current home in Indonesia.
Pleistocene Megafauna Names
African Pleistocene Megafauna Names
- Deinotherium bozasi | Hoe Tusker
- Equus quagga quagga | Quagga
- Hippotragus leucophaeus | Bluebuck
- Loxodonta africana pharaoensis | North African Elephant
- Pelorovis antiquus
- Sivatherium giganteum | Shiva Giraffe
- Ursus arctos crowtheri | Atlas Bear
- Xenocyon lycaonoides | African Wolf
Australian Pleistocene Megafauna Names
- Aquila audax | Wedge-Tailed Eagle
- Cygnus atratus | Black Swan
- Diprotodon optatum
- Genyornis newtoni
- Palorchestes azael | Marsupial Tapir
- Procoptodon goliah | Giant Short-Faced Kanagaroo
- Thylacinus cynocephalus | Tasmanian Tiger
- Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis | Tasmanian Emu
- Varanus priscus | Giant Goanna
- Wonambi naracoortensis
- Zygomaturus trilobus
Eurasian Pleistocene Megafauna Names
- Coelodonta antiquitatis | Wolly Rhinoceros
- Elasmotherium sibiricum | Giant Rhinoceros
- Megaloceros giganteus | Irish Elk
- Panthera leo spelaea | Cave Lion
- Ursus spelaeus | Cave Bear
Hawai’i Plistocene Megafauna Names
- Chelychelynechen quassus | Moa Nalo Kaua?i
- Ptaiochen pau | Moa Nalo Maui
- Thambetochen xanion | Moa Nalo O?ahu
- Thambetochen chauliodous | Moa Nalo | Maui Nui
Madagascar Pleistocene Megafauna Names
- Aepyornis maximus | Elephant Bird | Vorompatra
- Archaeoindris fontoynonti | Gorilla Lemur
New Zealand Pleistocene Megafauna Names
- Dinornis robustus | Giant Moa
- Harpagornis moorei | Haast’s Eagle
North American Pleistocene Megafauna Names
- Aiolornis incredibilis | Giant Thunder Bird
- Arctodus simus | Giant Short-Faced Bear
- Bison antiquus
- Bison latifrons | Giant Bison
- Bison occidentalis
- Bootherium bombifrons | Woodland Musk Ox
- Camelops
- Canis dirus | Dire Wolf
- Castoroides ohioensis | Giant Beaver
- Cervalces scotti (Stag Moose)
- Equus scotti | Yukon Horse
- Equus scotti | American Horse
- Euceratherium collinum (Shrub Ox)
- Homotherium serum | Scimitar Cat
- Mammut americanum |American Mastodon
- Mammuthus imperator | Imperial Mammoth
- Mammuthus primigenius | Wooly Mammoth
- Megalonyx jeffersonii | Giant Ground Sloth
- Miracinonyx trumani | American Cheetah
- Panthera leo atrox | American Lion
- Platygonus | American Peccary
- Saiga tatarica | Saiga Antelope
- Smilodon fatalis |Sabre-Toothed Tiger
- Tapirus californicus | California Tapir
- Teratornis merriami | Thunder Bird
- Titanis walleri | Terror Bird
South American American Pleistocene Megafauna Names
- Coelodonta antiquitatis | Patagonian LitoPtern
- Smilodon populator | Sabre-Toothed Tiger
Giant Prehistoric Elephant Discovered
Scientists in Indonesia claim they have unearthed the 200,000-year-old skeleton of a giant elephant that stood more than 13 feet (4 meters) tall.
Armadillo-like Crocodile Fossil Found In Brazil
An ancient fossil crocodile coated in armadillo-like body armor was unveiled yesterday at an environmental museum in Brazil. Dubbed Armadillosuchus arrudai, the newly described species of crocodile roamed the arid interior of Brazil about 90 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period, scientists said.
An Interglacial Jump In Sea Level
The potential for future rapid sea-level rise is perhaps the greatest threat from global warming. But the question of whether recent ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica is the first indication of such a rise is difficult to answer given the limited duration of the instrumental record. New evidence from an exceptionally exposed fossil reef in the Xcaret theme park in Mexico provides a detailed picture of the development of reef terraces, erosion surfaces and sea-level excursions in the region during the last interglacial. A combination of precise uranium-series dating and stratigraphic analysis, together with comparison with coral ages elsewhere, suggests that a sea-level jump of 2 to 3 metres occurred about 121,000 years ago, consistent with an episode of ice-sheet instability towards the end of the last interglacial. On that evidence, sustained rapid ice loss and sea-level rise in the near future are possible.
Social Sabertooths Hunted In Packs
An abundance of sabertooth fossils in tar pits in present-day Los Angeles, California, suggests that the cats were pack scavengers, scientists say. Tar pits occur when underground asphalt leaks to the surface, causing a large puddle or lake of the sticky substance.
Paleontologists Strike Fossil Gold In Colombia
Last month, an international group of scientists revealed in the journal Nature that Jaramillo’s team had made a startling discovery — a species of snake larger than a school bus that ruled northern South America 60 million years ago. Evolving after the extinction of the dinosaurs, Titanoboa cerrejonensis — or titanic boa from Cerrejon — might have been the largest vertebrate living on land at that time, the Paleocene era.
Crunching The Data For The Tree Of Life
Within the next few decades, biologists may figure out how the millions of species on Earth are related to one another. But for people to actually see that tree of life, the tree itself will have to evolve.