Pongo weidenreichi

The Chinese orangutan (Pongo weidenreichi) is an extinct species of orangutan from the Pleistocene of South China and possibly Southeast Asia. It is known from fossil teeth found in the Sanhe Cave,^[1][2] and Baikong, Juyuan and Queque Caves in Chongzuo, Guangxi.^[3] Its dental dimensions are 20% bigger than those of living orangutans.^[4] The youngest remains of the species date to between 66,000-57,000 years ago in Yincun Cave, Guangxi.^[5] An isolated canine from Thẩm Khuyên Cave, Vietnam, and a fourth premolar from Pha Bong, Thailand, could possibly be assigned to Gigantopithecus, though these could also represent Pongo weidenreichi.^[6] Two possible teeth previously attributed to Gigantopithecus from the Late Pleistocene deposit from Vietnam has been subsequently suggested to represent P. weidenreichi instead.^[7]

Chinese orangutan Temporal range: 66,000–57,000 years ago
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	Hominidae
Genus:	Pongo
Species:	†P. weidenreichi
Binomial name
†Pongo weidenreichi Hooijer, 1948
Synonyms
P. hooijeri Schwartz, Long, Cuong, Kha & Tattersall, 1995 P. pygmaeus weidenreichi (Hooijer, 1948) P. pygmaeus ciochoni (Schwartz, Long, Cuong, Kha & Tattersall, 1995) P. pygmaeus fromageti (Schwartz, Long, Cuong, Kha & Tattersall, 1995) P. pygmaeus kahlkei (Schwartz, Long, Cuong, Kha & Tattersall, 1995)

Palaeoecology

P. weidenreichi had very similar dental microwear patterns to P. devosi, which may indicate the two species had a similar diet.^[8]