Gibbon

Gibbons[1][2]
Temporal range: Late Miocene–recent
Gibbon species of different genera; from top-left, clockwise: Pileated gibbon (Hylobates pileatus), western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock), yellow-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus gabriellae), siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus)
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[4]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Parvorder: Catarrhini
Superfamily: Hominoidea
Family: Hylobatidae
Gray, 1870
Type genus
Hylobates
Illiger, 1811
Genera
Distribution in Southeast Asia
Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, 2013

Gibbons (/ˈɡɪbənz/) are apes in the family Hylobatidae (/ˌhləˈbætɪd/). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India to southern China and Indonesia (including the islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java).

Also called the lesser apes, gibbons differ from the great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and humans) in being smaller, exhibiting low sexual dimorphism, and not making nests.[5] Like all of the apes, gibbons are tailless. Unlike most of the great apes, gibbons frequently form long-term pair bonds. Their primary mode of locomotion, brachiation, involves swinging from branch to branch for distances up to 15 m (50 ft), at speeds as fast as 55 km/h (34 mph). They can also make leaps up to 8 m (26 ft), and walk bipedally with their arms raised for balance. They are the fastest of all tree-dwelling, nonflying mammals.[6]

Depending on the species and sex, gibbons' fur coloration varies from dark- to light-brown shades, and any shade between black and white, though a completely "white" gibbon is rare.

  1. ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 178–181. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Mootnick, A.; Groves, C. P. (2005). "A new generic name for the hoolock gibbon (Hylobatidae)". International Journal of Primatology. 26 (4): 971–976. doi:10.1007/s10764-005-5332-4. S2CID 8394136.
  3. ^ Ji, Xueping; Harrison, Terry; Zhang, Yingqi; Wu, Yun; Zhang, Chunxia; Hu, Jinming; Wu, Dongdong; Hou, Yemao; Li, Song; Wang, Guofu; Wang, Zhenzhen (2022-10-01). "The earliest hylobatid from the Late Miocene of China". Journal of Human Evolution. 171: 103251. Bibcode:2022JHumE.17103251J. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103251. ISSN 0047-2484. PMID 36113226. S2CID 252243877.
  4. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  5. ^ Schaul, Jordan Carlton (3 March 2014). "Gibbon Conservation Center Working to Save South Asia's Hoolock Gibbons & Other "Small Apes"". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Gibbon". a-z animals. Retrieved 26 March 2015.

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