The Media & Their Narratives.

[BIAD]

Promoted by PA Media (One of the reasons why all MSM news items are the same)
Take your pick on which is true or just articles designed to cater for ratings.

Largest great ape that ever lived ‘became extinct because of climate change’
Story by By Christina Larson, Associated Press

'An ancient species of great ape was likely to have been driven to extinction when climate change
put their favourite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists said on Wednesday. The species
Gigantopithecus blacki, which once lived in southern China, represents the largest great ape known
to scientists, standing 10ft tall and weighing up to 650lbs, or 46 stone.



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.”
The giant apes, which probably resembled modern orangutans, survived for about two million years
on the forested plains of China’s Guangxi region. They ate vegetarian diets, munching on fruits and
flowers in tropical forests, until the environment began to change.

The researchers analysed pollen and sediment samples preserved in Guangxi’s caves, as well as fossil
teeth, to unravel how forests produced fewer fruits starting about 600,000 years ago, as the region
experienced more dry seasons. The giant apes did not vanish quickly, but likely became extinct some
time between 215,000 and 295,000 years ago, the researchers found.

While smaller apes may have been able to climb trees to search for different food, the researchers’
analysis shows the giant apes ate more tree bark, reeds and other non-nutritious food. “When the
forest changed, there was not enough food preferred by the species,” said co-author Zhang Yingqi,
of China’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology.

Most of what scientists know about the extinct great apes comes from studying fossil teeth and four
large lower jaw bones, all found in southern China. No complete skeletons have been found.
Between about two million and 22 million years ago, several dozen species of great apes
inhabited Africa, Europe and Asia, fossil records show.

Today, only gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans and humans remain.
While the first humans emerged in Africa, scientists do not know on which continent the great ape
family first arose, said Rick Potts, who directs the human origins programme at the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of Natural History, in the US, and was not involved in the study...'

Archived AP Article:

...And now from the Guardian.

Giganto, largest ever primate, died out due to diet change, say scientists
Story by Nicola Davis Science correspondent

'It was the largest primate ever to have roamed the Earth, but just why – and when – our distant cousin
“giganto” ended up extinct has been something of a mystery. Now researchers say the enormous ape
was victim of an unfortunate choice of food when its preferred snacks became scarce.



Gigantopithecus blacki roamed mainland south-east Asia 2 million years ago, with estimates suggesting
it was three metres tall and weighed 200-300kg – roughly three to four times a human’s weight.

Previous studies have shown giganto’s range decreased considerably by about 330,000 years ago, but
unpicking the cause of its extinction has been a challenge as it was unclear when exactly it was wiped out.

Dr Kira Westaway of Macquarie University, co-lead author of the study, said: “If you don’t have an accurate
timeline, then you’re just looking for clues in the wrong places. “It was assumed that the deterioration in forests
was the cause of its demise as it couldn’t live in open grasslands – but our study shows that this [shift to
savannah] occurred at about 200,000 [years ago] when G blacki was already extinct.”

Writing in the journal Nature, Westaway and colleagues report how they used a host of techniques to date
giganto teeth from 11 caves in China, as well as the cave sediments. They also dated sediments from 11
caves where no giganto remains were found.

The results revealed giganto died out between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago. The researchers then pieced
together the environmental conditions in which giganto lived, analysing pollen, animal fossils and sediments
within the caves, together with stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen.

The results suggest about 700,000 to 600,000 years ago giganto’s environment began to shift from dense
forests with patches of grassland, to more open forests – apparently a result of climate change away from
fairly stable conditions. “We’re getting a very strong wet season and a very strong dry season,” Westaway
said. This changed the forest plant communities, and meant fruits that had been available year-round were
scarce during drier periods.

The team explored the changing diet of giganto by analysing wear patterns on its teeth as well as its internal
chemical makeup. They compared the findings with those from the Chinese orangutan, a close relative that
went extinct much later.

The results suggest the orangutan feasted on leaves and flowers from the forest canopy in lieu of fruit.
However, giganto – which was less mobile and able to forage – took a different approach. “The key to
[the apes’] survival was what they use as a fallback food,” said Westaway. “Giganto chose a very
unnutritious backup food – he was eating really fibrous things like bark and twigs on the floor.”

By about 300,000 years ago giganto populations were struggling. “Giganto, being a very specialist feeder
and habitat specialist, just really couldn’t adapt,” said Westaway. Prof Hervé Bocherens of the University
of Tuebingen, who was not involved in the study, said earlier research of his had also highlighted a lack
of flexibility was behind giganto’s demise, suggesting it stuck with a diet of plants from a densely forested
landscape even when other species at the same site consumed grass from savannah environments.

But, he added: “Our previous work did not benefit from the same robust chronological framework as this
new paper, so we could not develop a scenario as detailed as the authors did.” Westaway said the research
had important implications, given concerns over a sixth mass extinction. “It’s really important to understand
how primates respond to environmental stresses and how some species are more vulnerable and some
are more resilient,” she said...'

Archived Guardian Article:


It's a disgrace how the public are treated.