In the words of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, if you think you’ve got problems, think about the gibbon. “The gibbon is the only member of the ape family not classified as a great ape. All the non-human apes are classified as great apes except one. That means taxonomists created the entire category of lesser ape just to single out the poor gibbon as the weird kid on the playground.”
Now that the disclaimer is out, let’s figure out more about this ‘weird kid in the playground’, the Gibbon. Gibbons are omnivorous mammals. They live upto 25 years and are almost as big as a 6 ft. man.
Gibbons are found in the dense forests of southern Asia and are super active. They rarely come to the ground and have a perfect and efficient lifestyle up on the trees. The texture of their hands and feet enables them to have a strong and long grip ang agility. They are really fast (56 kmph approx.). They eat insects, fruits, leaves and are like figs.
Species-There are over a dozen recognized species of gibbons ranging from northeastern India to southern China to Borneo. The largest species are known as siamangs, and can grow to 29 pounds. Smaller species reach only about nine pounds.
Facts about Gibbons-
- Did you know gibbons have their own international ‘day’? That’s right! October 24 is celebrated “International Gibbon Day,”
- Gibbons are born singers. Just kidding, but yes they do sing and they do so to communicate. Their day starts with singing and can modulate their pitch as well. So I guess they are born singers then!
- There are 20 known species of gibbon.
- They are the fastest apes.
- Gibbons are only dangerous to us if they are sick.
In short, Gibbons are highly underestimated because in reality, they are pretty cool and we should be giving them more credit, don’t you think?
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