Final answer:
Gigantopithecus was a large prehistoric ape living around 7 million years ago. It coexisted with several species of Australopithecus, which displayed evolutionary trends such as reduced jaws and teeth, increasing brain size, and the early use of tools.
Step-by-step explanation:
Gigantopithecus, which existed about 7 million years ago (7 MYA), is another prehistoric primate that roamed the Earth. It shares a time period with other hominids such as Australopithecus species, but it is neither a direct ancestor of modern humans nor of the australopiths. Gigantopithecus is known for its large size and is considered one of the largest apes that ever lived. In contrast, the Australopithecus species were known to have smaller brains and teeth compared to modern humans but larger than those of chimpanzees. They began to demonstrate the evolution of human traits, such as bipedalism, and the use of tools, as evidenced by Australopithecus garhi around 2.5 MYA. The Australopithecus species, including Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy), Australopithecus bahrelghazali, and Australopithecus africanus, showed a reduction in dentition and jaw size over time and an increase in brain size. However, there were also robust forms of early hominids like the genus Paranthropus that survived until about 1 million years ago.