An international team led by Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences unraveled the mystery about when and how the largest ape on the Earth ever-known went extinct. Contact to ZHANG Yingqi zhangyingqi@ivpp.ac.cn Link:Paper DOI？10.1038/s41586-023-06900-0

The human population explosion, soaring from 1.6 billion to over 6 billion during the 20th century, has had a profound impact on global environments and biodiversity. However, large mammalian herbivores, including species such as elephants and deer that are sensitive to habitat changes, have experienced relatively little extinction in the face of this 20th century change. To investigate why this otherwise sensitive group of mammals has survived during this part of the Anthropocene, a research team of scientists examined the diets of the most common large-bodied herbivorous mammals weighing over 20 kg (44 lbs) across China over the past century.

Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborators have reported a new study on the diversity and evolutionary history of the lower jaws in proboscideans, along with the coevolution of the trunk. Contact to WANG Shiqi: wangshiqi@ivpp.ac.cn;