The Skywalker hoolock gibbon or Gaoligong hoolock gibbon is an arboreal primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae. It is one of three species of hoolock gibbon and was first described in January 2017 in the American Journal of Primatology. The Skywalker hoolock gibbon is one of two species of Eastern hoolocks: H. tianxing and H. leuconedys. Researchers estimate H. tianxing diverged from H. leuconedys roughly 490,000 years ago. The Eastern hoolock is vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with a population of 310,000–370,000 individuals. Of this population, H. tianxing makes up less than 150 individuals, making the Skywalker hoolock gibbon an endangered species.
Skywalker hoolock gibbon
Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae. The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforests from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India to southern China and Indonesia.
Northern white-cheeked gibbon, Nomascus leucogenys
Agile gibbon, Hylobates agilis
Pileated gibbon (Hylobates pileatus)
Genus Hoolock