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Hoolock gibbon

 
Animal Encyclopedia: Hoolock gibbon
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Hylobates hoolock

TAXONOMY

Hylobates hoolock, Harlan, 1834, Chindwin River, Burma. Two subspecies east (H. h. leuconedys) and west (H. h. hoolock).

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: White-browed gibbon; French: Hoolock; German: Hulock; Spanish: Gibon hulock.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Female size 19 in (48.3 cm); male weight 15.2 lb (6.9 kg); female 15.4 lb (6.1 kg). Sexually dichromatic: male is black with white eyebrows (flicked up laterally); female is golden, darker on cheeks and chest, whitish eyebrows; neonate is white to gray; juveniles of both sexes are black.

DISTRIBUTION

India (northeast states) east and south of Brahmaputra River, Bangladesh, and Myanmar (Burma) east to Salween River.

HABITAT

Tropical semi-evergreen and evergreen rainforest.

BEHAVIOR

Population density 1.7 groups/2.5 mi2 (km2); home range 94 ac (38 ha), 86% defended as territory 77 ac (31 ha); day range 0.8 mi (1.3 km). Notes in songs are diphasic, variable accelerating in both sexes; female great call, 19 notes, about 15 seconds duration.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Their diet is mainly figs and other fruit, also flowers, leaves, and animal matter.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Monogamous. Mate early in the day, probably seasonal, produce single young every two to three years.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Endangered. Relatively tame because humans work in the forest fragments.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Usually respected.

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Wikipedia: Hoolock gibbon
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Hoolock gibbons[1][2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hylobatidae
Genus: Hoolock
Mootnick & Groves, 2005
Species

Hoolock hoolock
Hoolock leuconedys

The hoolock gibbons (Hoolock), also known as hoolocks, are two primate species from the family of the gibbons (Hylobatidae).

Hoolocks are the second largest of the gibbons, after the Siamang. They reach a size of 60 to 90 cm and weigh 6 to 9 kg. The sexes are about the same size, but they differ considerably in coloration: males are black colored with remarkable white brows, while females have a grey-brown fur, which is darker at the chest and neck. White rings around the eyes and around the mouth give their face a mask-like appearance.

The range of the hoolocks is the most northwestern of all the gibbons, extending from Assam in North-East India, to Myanmar. Small populations (in each case few hundred animals) live also in the eastern Bangladesh and in southwest China. Like the other gibbons, they are diurnal and arboreal, brachiating through the trees with their long arms. They live together in monogamous pairs, which stake out a territory. Their calls serve to locate family members and ward off other gibbons from their territory. Their diet consists mainly of fruits, insects and leaves.

Young hoolocks are born after a seven month gestation, with a milky white fur. After about six months their fur turns black. After 8 to 9 years they are fully mature and their fur reaches its final coloration. Their life expectancy in the wild is about 25 years.

Classification

The classification of this gibbon has changed several times in the past few years. Classically, all gibbons were classified in the genus Hylobates, with the exception of the Siamang. After some studies, the genus was divided into three subgenera (including the Siamang's Symphalangus), and then into four (recognizing Bunopithecus as the hoolock subgenus distinct from other gibbon subgenera). These four subgenera were elevated to full genus status. However, the type species for Bunopithecus is Bunopithecus sericus, an extinct gibbon or gibbon-like ape from Sichuan, China. Very recent investigations have shown that the hoolocks are not closely related to B. sericus and so have been placed in their own genus, Hoolock. In the process, the two subspecies of hoolocks have been raised to species level.[1][2]

There are two species of Hoolock:[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M.. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 178-179. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100753. 
  2. ^ a b c Mootnick, A.; Groves, C. P. (2005). "A new generic name for the hoolock gibbon (Hylobatidae)". International Journal of Primatology 26 (26): 971–976. doi:10.1007/s10764-005-5332-4. 

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Animal Encyclopedia. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2005 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hoolock gibbon".  Read more