Calcium isotope ecology of early Gigantopithecus blacki (∼2 Ma) in South China

Estimates of absolute crown strength and bite force in the lower postcanine dentition of Gigantopithecus blacki

“…Carbon (C) and oxygen (O) isotopic analyses of tooth enamel have suggested that G. blacki foraged in densely forested habitat and consumed C3 plants exclusively (Zhao et al, 2011;Zhao and Zhang, 2013;Nelson, 2014;Qu et al, 2014;Bocherens et al, 2017;Jiang et al, 2021). In this paleoecological context, potential food sources would have been plentiful, leading to speculation about the foods possibly consumed by G. blacki, such as fruits (Woo, 1962;Ciochon et al, 1990;Han and Zhao, 2002;Wang, 2009), tough items (Daegling and Grine, 1994;Zhao and Zhang, 2013), and/or hard objects (Ciochon et al, 1990;Kupczik and Dean, 2008;Qu, 2014;Hu et al, 2022). Previous studies of enamel carbon isotopes and starch grains that bonded to the enamel surface suggest that G. blacki may have had a broad dietary range (Qu, 2014;Qu et al, 2014;Nelson, 2014;Bocherens et al, 2017).…”

“…Substantial efforts have been made in previous studies to improve our understanding of G. blacki dietary ecology. A recent study presented the Ca isotope data of G. blacki and compared it with the data of other 19 taxa, including fauna from the Liucheng Gigantopithecus Cave, extant primates, and fossil hominins (Hu et al, 2022). Results revealed that G. blacki, P. boisei, and the giant panda (Ailuropoda sp.)…”

“…Attempts have been made to determine the dietary behavior of G. blacki through a variety of approaches, such as dentognathic morphology (e.g. enamel thickness, tooth root length, occlusal area, and mandibular corpus depth; Woo, 1962;Olejniczak et al, 2008a;Kupczik and Dean, 2008;Zhang and Zhao, 2013;Kono et al, 2014;Zhang and Harrison, 2017), stable isotope analysis (Nelson, 2014;Qu et al, 2014;Bocherens et al, 2017;Jiang et al, 2021;Hu et al, 2022), dental microwear (Daegling and Grine, 1994;Zhao and Zhang, 2013), incidence of dental caries (Han and Zhao, 2002;Wang, 2009), analysis of phytoliths (Ciochon et al, 1990), and analysis of starch grains (Qu, 2014). These studies provided indications-e.g.…”

“…These studies provided indications-e.g. enhanced enamel stability reflected by high calcium (Ca) isotope values, possibly being adapted to the consumption of hard foods (Hu et al, 2022)-that G. blacki may have been capable of processing mechanically challenging foods (MCFs), i.e. tough foods (Dickson, 2003;Olejniczak et al, 2008a;Kono et al, 2014) and/or hard foods (Kupczik and Dean, 2008;Qu, 2014;Hu et al, 2022).…”

“…enhanced enamel stability reflected by high calcium (Ca) isotope values, possibly being adapted to the consumption of hard foods (Hu et al, 2022)-that G. blacki may have been capable of processing mechanically challenging foods (MCFs), i.e. tough foods (Dickson, 2003;Olejniczak et al, 2008a;Kono et al, 2014) and/or hard foods (Kupczik and Dean, 2008;Qu, 2014;Hu et al, 2022). Feeding on tough or hard foods may require high dental resistance to fracture associated with repetitive and/or intense loading, respectively, while feeding on hard foods may further require relatively large bite force (BF).…”