Gibbon is a small monkey. The closest relatives of this primate are the gorilla, chimpanzee, orangutan and bonobo. There are 15 species of gibbons that can be found in Southeast Asia (China, India, Burma, Malay Peninsula, Borneo).
The gibbon lives in dense jungles and tropical forests. Number of gibbons in wildlife very low due to accelerated deforestation and poaching. Gibbons are often sold as pets. In addition, their body parts are used in traditional Asian medicine. All but one gibbon species is in danger of extinction or extinction.
Interesting facts about gibbons:
Gibbons are small and light monkeys. They can reach 17 to 25 inches in length and weigh between 9 and 29 pounds. Males are slightly larger than females.
The color of the fur depends on the species. It can be light brown, dark brown or black shades.
Gibbon has a very Long hands, flexible shoulders and strong legs that make it easier to move through the treetops.
Gibbons are arboreal animals (they spend their entire lives in trees).
They move by jumping from one branch to another. Four fingers on their hands form a “hook”, which ensures reliable grip of the branches. This unique way movement is also known as "brachiating".
The gibbon can jump a distance of 50 feet at a speed of 35 miles per hour after a single swing. The gibbon is the fastest non-flying arboreal mammal.
The gibbon walks using only its legs (bipedal gait). Hands are used for balancing. They walk on two legs both on the ground and in trees.
Gibbons avoid water because they don't swim.
Gibbons are diurnal animals (active during the day). They sleep in trees, in an upright position. They don't build houses. Instead, they use forked branches as beds.
Gibbons are omnivores (they eat both plants and animals). Their diet consists mainly of fruits, but they also eat various types seeds, shoots, flowers and insects.
Gibbons live in family groups consisting of a breeding pair and their offspring. Gibbons are monogamous (one mate for life) and they form very strong bonds with their family members. Kinship plays an important role in their social life.
Gibbons are territorial animals that typically live in areas ranging from 25 to 40 hectares. They desperately protect their home from competitors.
Gibbons are very smart animals. They can recognize themselves in the mirror. In addition, they can communicate through various sounds, especially so-called "songs". "Songs" usually last from 10 to 30 minutes and are performed by both males and females. The main purpose of a "song" is to announce the presence of a group in a certain area.
Mostly gibbons live in Southeast Asia. Previously, their distribution area was much wider, but human influence has significantly reduced it. It can be found in dense tropical forests, as well as in thickets of trees on mountain slopes, but not higher than 2,000 meters.
Features of the physical structure of representatives of the species include the absence of a tail and a greater length of the forelimbs in relation to the body than in other primates. Thanks to their strong long arms and low-rooted thumb on their hands, gibbons can move between trees with great speed, swinging on branches.
On photo of gibbons From the Internet you can find a wide variety of colors, however, such diversity is often achieved through the use of filters and effects.
In life there are three color options - black, gray and brown. The size depends on whether the individual belongs to a particular subspecies. Thus, the smallest gibbon in adulthood has a height of about 45 cm and a weight of 4-5 kg; larger subspecies reach a height of 90 cm, and accordingly, the weight also increases.
Character and lifestyle of the gibbon
During daylight hours, gibbons are most active. They quickly move between trees, swinging on long forelimbs and jumping from branch to branch up to 3 meters long. Thus, their speed of movement is up to 15 km/h.
Monkeys rarely descend to the ground. But, if this happens, the manner of their movement is very comical - they stand on their hind legs and walk, balancing with their front legs. Established monogamous couples live with their children on their own territory, which they jealously guard.
Early in the morning monkey gibbons rise to the very tall tree and notify all other primates with a loud song that this area is occupied. There are specimens that, for certain reasons, do not have a territory or family. Most often these are young males who leave parental care in search of life partners.
An interesting fact is that if grown-up males do not leave their parental territory on their own, they are expelled by force. Thus, a young male can wander through the forest for several years until he meets his chosen one, only then they occupy an empty area together and raise their offspring there.
It is noteworthy that adult individuals of some subspecies occupy and protect territories for their future offspring, where a young male can bring a female for a further, now independent, life.
Pictured is a white-handed gibbon
There is information about existing among white-handed gibbons a strict daily routine followed by almost all monkeys without exception. At dawn, between 5-6 am, they wake up and wake up from sleep.
Immediately after the rise, the primate goes to the highest point of his area in order to remind everyone else that the territory is occupied and should not be interfered with. Only then does the gibbon perform its morning toilet, clean itself up after sleep, begin to make active movements and set off along the tree branches.
This path usually leads to a place already favored by the monkey. fruit tree, in which the primate enjoys a hearty breakfast. Eating is done slowly, the gibbon savors every piece of the juicy fruit. Then, at a slower speed, the primate goes to one of its resting places in order to relax.
Pictured is a black gibbon
There he basks in the nest, lying almost motionless, enjoying satiety, warmth and life in general. Having had plenty of rest, the gibbon cleans its fur, combs it, and slowly puts itself in order in order to proceed to its next meal.
At the same time, lunch takes place on a different tree - why eat the same thing if you live in a tropical forest? Primates are well aware of their own territory and its hot spots. Over the next couple of hours, she again savors the juicy fruits, fills her stomach and, heavy, goes to her place of sleep.
As a rule, a day's rest and two meals take up the gibbon's entire day; having reached the nest, he goes to bed so that tomorrow, with renewed vigor, he will notify the area that the territory is occupied by a fearless and strong primate.
Gibbon nutrition
The main food products of the gibbon are juicy fruits, shoots and leaves of trees. However, some gibbons do not disdain insects, eggs of birds nesting in their trees, and even chicks. Primates carefully explore their territory and know where this or that fruit can be found.
Reproduction and life expectancy of the gibbon
As mentioned above, gibbons form monogamous pairs in which the parents live together with the offspring until the young are ready to start families of their own. Taking into account the fact that sexual maturity occurs in primates at 6-10 years of age, the family usually consists of children and parents of different ages.
Sometimes they are joined by old primates who, for some reason, remained alone. Most gibbons, having lost a partner, can no longer find a new one, so they while away the rest of their lives without a mate. Sometimes this is quite a long period, since gibbons live up to 25-30 years.
Representatives of the same community know each other, sleep and eat together, take care of each other. Grown-up primates help the mother look after the babies. Also, from the example of adults, children learn correct behavior. A couple has a new baby every 2-3 years. Immediately after birth, he wraps his long arms around his mother's waist and holds on tightly to her.
Pictured is a white-cheeked gibbon
This is not surprising, because even with a baby in her arms, the female moves in the same way - she swings strongly and jumps from branch to branch at a great height. The male also takes care of the young, but often this care consists only of guarding and defending the territory. Despite the fact that gibbons live in forests full of fierce predators, it is humans who have caused the most harm to these animals. The number of primates is significantly declining due to a decrease in the area of their usual habitats.
Forests are cut down and gibbons have to leave their habitats in search of new ones, which is not so easy to do. Besides, in Lately There is a tendency to keep these wild animals at home. You can buy a gibbon in specialized nurseries. Price per gibbon varies depending on the age and subspecies of the individual.
Gibbons (Hylobatidae) are a family of primates that inhabit the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. If we take into account species diversity and numbers, then gibbons must be recognized as the most prosperous of the apes. They descended from a fruit-eating ancestor who was good at climbing trees.
Among other monkeys, gibbons are famous primarily for their screams, or rather songs. Perhaps these are some of the most amazing and unusual sounds that can be heard in the tropical forests of Asia. The singing can be heard for several kilometers.
A single male singing can most often be heard before sunrise. The aria begins with a series of soft, simple trills that gradually develop into a series of more complex loud sounds. The song ends with dawn. In the fast gibbon, for example, the final part of the aria is twice as long as the first part and contains 2 times as many notes. The final cry of the Kloss gibbon is called the “quivering song.”
Females usually start singing in the late morning. Their song is shorter and less variable. They just repeat the same tune over and over again. But even despite the repetitions, it makes a lasting impression. The so-called “great song” of the female lasts from 7 to 30 seconds.
Perhaps most expressive is the song of the female Kloss gibbon, which is described as “the most beautiful sounds that a wild mammal can make.”
Although the males have a very varied repertoire, the song is always performed in a relatively low key. Females are real “drama queens” compared to males.
Gibbons also sing during the day, choosing a tall tree on which a whole performance is performed, which, among other things, includes swinging on the branches. During the “performance”, when the song reaches its climax and the crescendo of the female’s “great song” sounds, the dry branches break with a crash and fall down.
Why do gibbons sing? They do this for different purposes. Firstly, in order to notify other group members of your location.
Previously, it was believed that male gibbons sing in order to protect the feeding territory of their girlfriend, but now most zoologists are inclined to believe that the main purpose of singing is to protect the girlfriend herself from the encroachments of single males.
Males sing more often, once every 2-4 days, when there are many lonely males around, and where their numbers are small, they may not sing at all. By listening to the singing, bachelors can assess the physical condition of their “married” rivals, and, consequently, their ability to protect their girlfriends.
The female's singing techniques largely depend on how eager her neighbors are to enter her territory and steal fruit. With her repertoire, she notifies food competitors of her presence and that she does not want to see them on her site. They usually start their songs every 2-3 days. If there are a lot of relatives around, females can sing every day.
In many populations, males sing with females in a complex duet that boils down to the same constituent elements: an introduction, during which males, females and young individuals “warm up”; alternating calls of the male and female (when they coordinate their parts); “great song” of the female and the final coda.
The degree of synchrony and coherence among partners increases over time, so the quality of the duet can serve as an indicator of the duration of the couple’s existence.
Some scientists believe that duets promote pair formation and help maintain bonds between partners.
It is now generally accepted that couples perform their duets in populations where territorial invasions often occur. Thus, the owners of the territory declare their exclusive rights to this very territory. By supporting the female while she sings, the male signals to neighbors about his presence in her territory, which reduces the risk of territorial skirmishes.
Types, external features and habitats of gibbons
Gibbons belong to small apes: their body length, depending on the species, is 45-65 cm, weight on average is from 5.5 to 6.8 kg. Only a species like siamang is more different large sizes: its length can reach up to 90 cm, and its weight can reach 10.5 kg.
Unlike large apes, which are characterized by sexual dimorphism in body size, females and males of gibbons practically do not differ in size.
Gibbons are slender and graceful monkeys with long arms and legs. All apes have long arms and movable shoulder joints, but only our heroes have arms that play such an important role in moving forward. Primates move deftly on their hind limbs if, for example, a branch is too thick to hang on. They move along the ground in a similar way.
Gibbons are characterized by a remarkable mode of locomotion called brachiation and an erect body, key adaptations to their unique branch suspension.
The fur of these monkeys is thick. Its coloration, especially on the face, makes it easy to distinguish between species and sometimes to determine gender. Some species have well-developed head sacs, which serve to amplify the sounds produced. The calls of adult females can also help identify gibbon species with greater accuracy.
Gibbons live mainly in Southeast Asia. They are found from the extreme east of India to southern China, south to Bangladesh, Burma, Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan.
In total, 13 species of gibbons are known today. Let's get to know some of them better.
Black Crested Gibbon lives in northern Vietnam, China and Laos.
Males have black fur with whitish, yellowish or reddish cheeks; females are yellow-brown or golden, sometimes with black markings. Juveniles are whitish.
Pictured: a pair of crested black gibbons - an example of sexual dimorphism in coat color. The male has black fur with white cheeks. The female's coat is colored in a contrasting golden color.
Males grunt, whistle and squeal, females make high-pitched sounds or chirp. Each series of sounds lasts 10 seconds.
Siamang lives on the Malacca Peninsula and on the island of Sumatra.
The fur of both males, females, and young individuals is black, the throat pouch is gray or pinkish.
Males squeal and females make a series of barking sounds, each series lasting about 18 seconds.
Hoolock(white-browed gibbon) is found in northeast India.
The fur of males is black, that of females is golden with dark cheeks; Both sexes have light eyebrows. Juveniles are whitish.
Males produce biphasic, intensifying calls; The females' calls are similar, but in a lower tone.
Dwarf(Kloss's gibbon) inhabits the Mentawai Islands and western Sumatra.
The coat is shiny black in males, females and juveniles (the only species with this coloration).
Males moan and make tremulous hooting or hoots; in females, the sound frequency slowly increases, then decreases, the calls are interspersed with murmur and vibration. The duration of each episode is 30-45 seconds.
Silver gibbon found in the west of Java.
The coat is silver-gray in males, females and juveniles, the cap and chest are darker.
The male makes simple hoots, the female makes sounds reminiscent of murmurs.
Swift (black-handed) gibbon found in most of Sumatra, on the Malay Peninsula, on the island of Kalimantan.
The color is variable, but in each population it is the same in both sexes: light brown with a golden-red tint, brown, red-brown or black. Males have white cheeks and eyebrows, females brown.
Males emit a biphasic hoot, females have shorter calls, the sounds gradually increase slightly in tone until they reach a maximum.
Lar or white-handed gibbon inhabits Thailand, Malacca Peninsula, Sumatra Island.
The coloration is variable, but the same type in both sexes in each locality. In Thailand, for example, it is black or light brown, the face ring, arms and legs are white. In Malaysia, dark brown or dark yellow individuals live; in Sumatra, gibbon coat color ranges from brown to reddish or dark yellow.
Nutrition
Gibbons have adapted to live in the treetops of evergreen tropical forests. Here, at any time of the year, you can find fruiting species of vines and trees, so primates are provided with their favorite fruits all year round. In addition to fruits in large quantities they eat leaves, as well as invertebrates - main source animal protein for them.
Unlike monkeys, which usually feed in large groups and can digest even unripe fruits, gibbons choose only ripe fruits. Before picking even a small fruit, the monkey always checks its ripeness by squeezing it between his thumb and forefinger. The unripe fruit of the primrose is left on the tree to give it the opportunity to ripen.
Family life
An adult pair of gibbons gives birth to one baby every 2-3 years. Therefore, in a family group there are usually from 2 to 4 immature individuals.
Pregnancy lasts 7-8 months, the mother feeds the baby until the beginning of the second year of life.
Siamangs show extraordinary care for their offspring. The cub becomes independent only at the age of 3 years. By the age of six, young gibbons are fully grown and begin to communicate friendly with their peers. They have both friendly and hostile contacts with adult males, and they try not to communicate with adult females at all. Only by the age of 8 do young people completely separate from their family of origin.
Young males often sing alone, trying to attract a female. Often they look for her while wandering through the forest. It is clear that the first person you meet will not necessarily turn out to be a suitable partner; it will take more than one attempt to find “your one and only.”
Gibbons are not as social apes as, for example, chimpanzees. Within the group, they do not exchange audio or visual signals very often. This even applies to siamangs, which have expressive faces and a rich vocal repertoire. Mutual combing of wool is perhaps one of the main types social interactions in gibbons.
But the most expressive social manifestation is singing, which has already been discussed above.
Typically, every square kilometer of forest is home to two to four family groups. Families move approximately 1.5 km per day within their area, which covers an area of 30-40 hectares. Although siamangs are almost twice as large as other gibbons, they have a smaller feeding area, they also move less, and they eat more and more accessible food - leaves.
Conservation of gibbons in nature
Destruction of evergreens tropical forests in Southeast Asia calls into question the existence of gibbons in the near future.
In 1975, their number was estimated at 4 million, but now there are concerns that some species will not be able to maintain even the minimum numbers sufficient to survive. Massive timber harvesting leads to the fact that every year 1,000 gibbons are forced to leave their habitats. As a result, there is a sharp reduction in their numbers. However, it is clear that the silvery gibbon and Kloss's gibbon, as well as some of the crested gibbons, are already close to extinction.
In contact with
The Gibbon family is represented by one genus:
Genus: Hylobates Illiger, 1811 = (True) gibbons
There are 9 species in the genus
Brief description of the family
The sizes are the smallest in the family. The body length of gibbons is 45-90 cm. The usual weight is 8 to 13 kg. The physique of gibbons is quite graceful. The forelimbs are very elongated. On the hind limbs of siamangs, the second and third toes are strongly fused. There are small sciatic calluses.
The first finger of the hand is quite long. The wrist has a central bone. The external nose is well developed. Siamangs have a laryngeal shock, which is covered on the outside with hairless skin. The sac is a thin-walled protrusion of the mucous membrane of the larynx. When an animal screams, the sac inflates greatly and greatly enhances the sound.
The hair is thick, its color varies greatly from black or brown to dark yellow, almost creamy or whitish. The white-handed gibbon has white hands and feet and a face surrounded by white hair. In a monochromatic gibbon, the hair on the top of the head stands vertically, forming a kind of comb.
Inhabitants of dense tropical forests - up to approximately 2400 m above sea level. They lead an arboreal lifestyle and rarely come to the ground. They feed mainly on plant objects (leaves, fruits), but also eat various invertebrates and vertebrates (insects, spiders, chicks and bird eggs). Gibbons move along branches using brachiation. They live in small groups of 2-6 individuals, usually representing a separate family. Pregnancy is 200-212 days. There is usually one cub per litter. Sexual maturity occurs at 6-10 years. They lived in captivity until they were 23 years old.
Gibbons are common in Assam, Burma, Yunnan, the Indochina Peninsula, Hainan, Tenasserim, Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, the islands of Sumatra, Mentawai, Java and Kalimantan.
These are small, gracefully built monkeys, their forelimbs are longer than their hind limbs, their fur is thick, their palms, soles, ears and face are bare. There are small ischial calluses. The fingers are long, the first finger is well opposed to the rest. Distributed in India, Indochina, Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, and the Malacca Peninsula. All of them are arboreal, inhabitants of the tropical forest with a characteristic method of movement - brachiation: alternately intercepting tree branches with their hands, they fly from tree to tree at a distance of up to fifteen meters. They can walk on the ground on two legs, balancing with their arms. Some gibbons exhibit sexual dimorphism in hair color, for example, male gibbons are black and females are light beige. Another feature of the gibbon is family life, while each family has its own territory and has something in common with other families. This behavior is called "singing" or "choiring" by gibbons; The initiator of singing is, as a rule, the male, then the whole family joins him. Joint-toed gibbons - siamangs - even have special throat vocal sacs - resonators to amplify sound.
Gibbons are both anthropoid and not quite anthropoid. The ancient gibbons, which also lived in Africa and Europe in the mid-Tertiary period, may even have had tails. Apparently, it was from them that the ancient monkeys originated, which made the evolutionary transition from the ape-like type to the apes.
Today's gibbons are undoubtedly a group that has strayed from the path that leads to man. Leaning towards specialization, adaptation to life in the tops of the forest. Their unusually long arms, the thumbs of which are barely able to resist four others, are too flat, without any arch of the soles of their feet, unsuitable for long-term movement on the ground, a relatively small brain, a round skull without bone ridges, wider than those of other monkeys of the Old Sveta, nasal septum, large nostrils directed to the sides, too long fangs, ischial calluses (albeit small ones) and, finally, the habit of spending the night simply sitting on branches, and not building “nests” - all this distances gibbons from real apes. Therefore, modern taxonomists consider gibbons as a special family, albeit in the superfamily of anthropoids, or as a subfamily in the family of anthropoids.
There are disagreements in the generic division of gibbons: some taxonomists believe that there is one genus with seven species, others distinguish two genera - siamangs and true gibbons.
Siamangs, the largest of the gibbons, are always black, they do not have a cranial crest, which true gibbons sometimes have, and the throat pouch of female and male siamangs is always naked. True gibbons, except for male crested ones, do not have a throat pouch.
The siamang lives in the forests of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, and the dwarf siamang (species or subspecies is not decided) on the Mentawai Islands. In habits and way of life, the siamang is similar to other gibbons, only it screams and “sings” louder, it can be heard from three to four kilometers away, and it can swim. Other gibbons, like apes, do not usually swim. True, in zoos some young chimpanzees and gibbons love to swim and can swim a little. But old gibbons have thick fur that quickly gets wet and pulls them to the bottom.
In real gibbons, the coloring is very variable, young ones are of a different color than adults, and females retain their childish attire for a long time.
Black gibbons:
hulock - males are always black, females are brown and gray, the eyebrows are white, the fur is very thick and long, because of it the ischial calluses are not visible ( Eastern India, Burma, South China, Indochina);
crested - males are usually black with white sideburns, females are brown, reddish-yellow. There is a crest on the crown, especially noticeable in males (Indochina and Hainan Island);
Lar, or white-handed gibbon, is often black, but sometimes brown, yellow-gray. The arms, legs and “edge” around the face are white (Southern Burma, Malaya, Sumatra).
Non-black gibbons:
ungka - dark brown, red, light yellow, the face is sometimes bordered with white, like the Lar (Malay Peninsula and Sumatra);
The wow-wow, or silver gibbon, is usually silver-gray with a black face (Java and Kalimantan).
You can admire the jumping of gibbons for a long time. The spectacle is breathtaking and beautiful. Pushing off and grabbing at the end of the jump with only their hands, they literally fly between the trees. The jumps are sometimes smooth and graceful, sometimes swift. So accurate and fast that gibbons often tear fruits from nearby branches while flying and even catch birds. In the tops of the forest these are perhaps the fastest of the monkeys. And on earth, perhaps, they are the only ones that walk mainly on their hind legs, raising their arms bent at the hands up and balancing with them. Other monkeys can walk like this, but they still prefer to run on all fours. And gibbons even run along horizontal branches, at dizzying heights, on two legs. Sometimes they fall, and probably often: one study of gibbon bones showed that 70 out of 100 gibbons (in another case, 33) had healed fractures of their arms and legs.
The gibbon has amazing power in his hands! Clinging to the bars with one hand, he can drag an adult towards him with the other along the smooth floor! But a gibbon weighs only five to eight kilograms, only the siamang is two to three times heavier.
A gibbon drinks by hanging on a branch above the water and dipping his hand into the water, and then licking it. Less often they drink directly with their mouths, but not from the shore, but again from a branch.
They live in families: one adult male, one, rarely two, adult females and their children. Fully adult males and females are expelled from the family. But it happens that a mother and her young daughter, who also became a mother, do not part for a long time. Then 8 or even 14 gibbons live in one family. In places especially rich in tree fruits, different families sometimes meet and feed peacefully. But usually the family’s territory (from 12 to 40 hectares) is strictly guarded. Fights are rare, but there is a lot of screaming, indignation and anger.
As soon as the first rays of the sun touch the tops of the forest, the gibbons begin their chants.
"All gibbons, from small to large, from squeaky children's squeals to low voices males, sang the same song. It was a real melody, starting with the notes E and rising to the fullness of the octave, after which the voices flexibly trilled. The sounds gradually decreased, each time by a quarter tone...
Gibbons... are capable of singing in pure tones, they are the only truly singing animals" (S. Kerriger).
Both in the wild and in captivity, young gibbons love to play a lot and have fun. In some zoos they lived for 30 years. They tolerate cold easily, even at a frost of 15 degrees they frolic for hours under open air: Thick wool warms well. Gibbons (and some young langurs) often play “cat and mouse”: they wander around the cage with their eyes closed, catch their comrades as they run away, and only open their eyes when they catch someone. They easily make friends with other animals.
