February 2, 2017

Move over, Luke, there’s a new Skywalker in town! A new species (kind) of gibbon, the Skywalker hoolock gibbon, has been found living in the tropical rain forests of southwestern China and northeastern Myanmar. Gibbons are the smallest of the apes. The scientific name of this new species, Hoolock tianxing, describes a hoolock gibbon with “heaven’s movement” or, loosely, as a “skywalker.” The name refers to the gibbons’ graceful swinging through the treetops as well as the traditional Chinese view of these animals as mystical beings. Also, the scientists who studied the newly defined gibbons are huge Star Wars fans. (In case you didn’t know, Luke Skywalker is one of the heroes of the movie franchise.)

An adult female Skywalker hoolock gibbon contemplates the universe from its treetop home in southwestern China. Credit: © Fan Peng-Fei, Zoological Society of London

Researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, along with experts from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in the United Kingdom, have been studying these gibbons since 2008. But only recently did the scientists realize that this hoolock gibbon was different from the two known species—eastern and western hoolocks. Skywalker hoolock gibbons have slightly different eyebrows and beards than their relatives, and they have their own unique calls.

Gibbons are small primates with long arms. They weigh from 10 to 20 pounds (5 to 9 kilograms) and stand 15 to 36 inches (38 to 91 centimeters) high. Adults typically range in color from black to light tan, with males often darker than females. Their long arms help them brachiate (swing from branch to branch) through the treetops where they live. They eat fruits and leaves and rarely come to the ground. Most gibbons inhabit the forests of such Southeast Asian nations as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. The rare hoolock gibbon has been spotted as far west as India.

Unfortunately, all gibbons, including this new species, are threatened in the wild. Scientists believe there are only 200 Skywalker hoolock gibbons left in their native habitat. Human beings have greatly reduced gibbon populations by destroying the animals’ forest homes and by capturing young animals for food or for sale as pets.

September 12, 2016

Bigfoot and Yowie (a large, hairy ape said to live in the wild regions of Australia) might be mere legends, but one giant ape was certainly more than myth. Standing at a whopping 10 feet (3 meters) tall and weighing more than 900 pounds (400 kilograms), Gigantopithecus was about twice the size of a large male gorilla, making it the largest ape that ever lived. Gigantopithecus walked on its hands and fists, like today’s great apes, and roamed the tropical forests of what are now southern China, northern Vietnam, and northern India. Scientists believe that Gigantopithecus was related to ancestors of the modern orangutan.

A Gigantopithecus replica (known as “Mr. G”) was installed at the Museum of Man in San Diego, California, in 2003. Credit: © ZUMA Press/Alamy Images

Gigantopithecus’s fellow jungle creatures had only to worry about being squashed, because the colossal ape was not a meat-eater. Instead, it ate such hardy foods as bamboo and durian (a tropical fruit with a hard, prickly outer skin), using its large jaws and teeth to chew the tough plant matter. It is quite possible that crocodiles and ancient relatives of tigers and hyenas fed on Gigantopithecus young, but adults were so enormous that predators probably left them alone.

Gigantopithecus lived from more than 8 million years ago to about 200,000 years ago. It may have disappeared as the result of a shift in southern Asia’s climate about 1 million years ago, when conditions became colder and drier and the giant ape’s forest home began to shrink. Scientists believe that Homo erectus, an ancient relative of humans, crossed paths with Gigantopithecus and may have hunted it, playing a role in the monstrous beast’s extinction.