In 2019, peptide sequencing of dentine and enamel proteins of a "Gigantopithecus" molar from Chuifeng Cave indicates that "Gigantopithecus" was indeed closely allied with orangutans, and, assuming the current mutation rate in orangutans has remained constant, shared a common ancestor about 12–10 million years ago in the Middle to Late Miocene. Their last common ancestor would have been a part of the Miocene radiation of apes. The same study calculated a divergence time between the Ponginae and African great apes about 26–17.7 million years ago.