| Black crested gibbon[1] | |
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| At the Toledo Zoo | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Superfamily: | Hominoidea |
| Family: | Hylobatidae |
| Genus: | Nomascus |
| Species: | N. concolor |
| Binomial name | |
| Nomascus concolor (Harlan, 1826) |
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| Subspecies | |
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| Black crested gibbon range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Hylobates concolor |
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The black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor) is an endangered species of gibbon found in China, Laos, and northern Vietnam. There are 4 subspecies.
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There is a great deal of confusion about the taxonomy of the species. Previously grouped in the Hylobates genus, there are currently four subspecies recognised.[2]
The length from of the head to the end of body is 43–54 cm (17–21 in) and it weighs from 6.9 to 10 kg (15 to 22 lb).[3] The species exhibits sexual dimorphism, the male is almost completely black, but sometimes with white or buff cheeks, while the female is a golden or buff colour with variable black patches, including a black streak on the head.[3]
Gibbons are forest dwellers and are well known for their habit of swinging between the branches of the rainforest on their long arms, a method of locomotion known as brachiation. Gibbons are also adept however, at walking upright, both on the ground and in the trees. Black-crested gibbons live in small family groups consisting of a monogamous male and female and their offspring, there are also reports that groups may contain additional mature females. These apes are predominantly arboreal and the group forages and sleeps amongst the trees. Led by the female, the breeding pair partakes in vigorous bouts of singing in the morning, which hauntingly echo through the forest. It is believed that these ‘duets' are essential in pair bond formation and reinforcement, but also serve to advertise the presence of the group within the territory. A single young is born every two to three years and the infant is usually weaned once it reaches 2 years old;
Black-crested gibbons feed preferentially on ripe sugar rich fruit such as figs, but occasionally munch on vitamin rich leaf buds, and rarely eat animals.
The black crested gibbon has a discontinuous distribution across southwestern China, northwestern Laos, and northern Vietnam. One thousand years ago gibbons that may have been crested gibbons (Nomascus) were found over a large part of southern and central China up to the Yellow River.[2]
The four subspecies are geographically separated. The Tonkin black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor concolor) occurs in southern China (southwestern Yunnan) and northern Vietnam (Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Son La, and Lai Chau provinces), between the Black and Red rivers. The west Yunnan black crested gibbon (N. c. furvogaster) occurs in a small area near the Burma border, west of the Mekong, in southwestern Yunnan, southern China. The central Yunnan black crested gibbon (N. c. jingdongensis) occurs in a small region around the Wuliang Mountain, between the Mekong and Chuanhe rivers in west-central Yunnan. The Laotian black crested gibbon (N. c. lu) occurs in northwestern Laos in an isolated population on the east bank of the Mekong in Laos.[2]
The black-crested gibbon inhabits tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen, deciduous forests in subtropical and mountainous areas. It generally lives in high altitudes, from 2100 to 2400 m above sea level, where most of their food resources are concentrated. In Vietnam and Laos the species is found at lower altitudes, while in China it has been observed as high as 2689 meters.[3]
The black crested gibbon is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. There is currently thought to be between 1300 and 2000 individuals left in the wild.[2]
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