Yellow-cheeked gibbon
| Yellow-cheeked gibbon[1] | |
|---|---|
 | |
| (male left; female right) | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Superfamily: | Hominoidea |
| Family: | Hylobatidae |
| Genus: | Nomascus |
| Species: | N. gabriellae |
| Binomial name | |
| Nomascus gabriellae (Thomas, 1909) | |
 | |
| Yellow-cheeked gibbon range | |
The yellow-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus gabriellae), also called the golden-cheeked gibbon, yellow-cheeked crested gibbon, the golden-cheeked crested gibbon or the buffed-cheeked gibbon, is a species of gibbon native to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.[1]
The yellow-cheeked gibbon is born blond and later turns black. Males carry this colouring through their lifespan and have the distinguishing golden cheeks. Females are born blonde to blend into their mother's fur but they later turn black. Females turn back to blond at sexual maturity, keeping only a black cap on the top of their heads.[3]
This diurnal and arboreal gibbon lives in primary tropical rainforest, foraging for fruits, using brachiation to move through the trees.
The yellow-cheeked gibbon, like all gibbon species, has a unique song which is usually initiated by the male. The female will then join in and sing with the male to reinforce their bond and announce to other gibbons that they are a pair in a specific territory.[4] The male usually finishes the song after the female has stopped singing.
Little is known about this species in the wild, but it is thought that it has a life span of approximately 46 years.[5]
A recent report by the Wildlife Conservation Society counted 2,500 yellow-cheeked crested gibbons in Cambodia’s Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, an estimate that represents the largest known population of the species in the world.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M, eds. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 180. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ↑ Geissmann, T., Manh Ha, N., Rawson, B., Timmins, R., Traeholt, C. & Walston, J. (2008). Nomascus gabriellae. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
- ↑ Geissman, Thomas. "Fact Sheet: Yellow-Cheeked Crested Gibbon". Retrieved 4 December 2012.
- ↑ Quist, Erin. "Nomascus gabriella".
- ↑ Quist, Erin. "Nomascus gabriella".
- ↑ Unexpected Large Monkey Population Discovered Newswise, Retrieved on August 28, 2008.
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