Exploring dental enamel thickness of giant ape by using high-resolution CT
Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest known species of primate, lived mainly in South China during the Pleistocene. The enormous body size of this taxon, together with its special dietary proclivity and possible relationship with hominins arouse great interest among paleoanthropologists. The dental enamel thickness of primates can indicate important information of evolution and diet adaption. In a paper published in the journal of Acta Anthropologica Sinica 2013 (3), ZHANG Lizhao, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his advisor Dr. ZHAO Lingxia, reconstructed teeth of Gigantopithecus blacki using micro-CT, measured dental enamel thickness and compared them with the dentition of other primates, suggesting that thick dental enamel of Gigantopithecus blacki shared with the early hominins may be evolved from one branch of Miocene fossil ape or is the result of parallel evolution with modern humans.