An ancient species of great ape was likely driven to extinction when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists reported Wednesday.
The species Gigantopithecus blacki, which once lived in southern China, represents the largest great ape known to scientists — standing 10 feet tall and weighing up to 650 pounds.
But its size may also have been a weakness.
“It’s just a massive animal – just really, really big,” said Renaud Joannes-Boyau, a researcher at Australia’s Southern Cross University and co-author of the study published in the journal Nature. “When food starts to be scarce, it’s so big it can’t climb trees to explore new food sources.”
Wait, so I CAN climb up a tree to escape from a bear?
Only the big ones. Hope you brought a scale on your hiking trip.
You can just ask the brown bear how much they weigh, but you might offend them even more
Brown bear: not impossible. Polar bear: definitely. You might want to find something to do while you and the polar bear wait for a tree of appropriate size to grow in the Arctic. According to the link, you should also ensure the polar bear neither brings nor builds a ladder.
Better tip: don’t fuck around with polar bears
Unless you’re ancient Inuit and really hungry. They hunted polar bear, and the bears hunted them back.
I dunno, the way the climate is going there’ll be trees growing there soon enough