Agile gibbon

Agile gibbon[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hylobatidae
Genus: Hylobates
Species: H. agilis
Binomial name
Hylobates agilis
F. Cuvier, 1821
Agile Gibbon range

The agile gibbon (Hylobates agilis), also known as the black-handed gibbon, is an Old World primate in the Hylobatidae or gibbon family, a group also collectively referred to as the "lesser apes". Along with the orangutans of genus Pongo, they belong to one of only two ape clades endemic to Southeast Asia.

Contents

Description

The fur coloring of these animals can vary from black to red-brown. Their brows are always white, however, and males can be recognized by their white or light-grey cheeks. Additionally, males are slightly larger than females. Agile gibbons reach an average weight of 5.5 kg and a length of 40 to 60 cm. Like all gibbons they are tailless.

Distribution and Habitat

The agile gibbon is found on Sumatra (but not the north part of the island) and in a small area on the Malay Peninsula. They predominantly live arboreally in rain forests and rarely come to the ground.

Behaviour

With their long arms they swing by the branches, brachiating at a fast pace. Like all gibbons, they live in serially monogamous pairs in a strictly enforced territory, which they defend with vigorous visual displays and songs. The diet of the agile gibbon consists mainly of fruits, leaves and insects.

Females give birth to a single offspring after seven months' gestation. The young gibbon is weaned at barely 2 years of age. When fully mature, at about 8 years, it leaves its family group in order to look for a mate.

Subspecies

Some experts recognize two subspecies of the agile gibbon:[3]

These subspecies are not recognized by the IUCN Red List.[2]

References

  1. ^ Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 179. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100758. 
  2. ^ a b Geissmann, T. & Nijman, V. (2008). Hylobates agilis. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 January 2009.
  3. ^ Geissmann, Thomas. "Gibbon Systematics and Species Identification". http://gibbons.de/main/system/intro.html. Retrieved 2006-04-13. 

External links