Long-Extinct Gibbon Found Inside Tomb Of Chinese Emperor’s Grandmother

June 21, 2018btollesonRSS Sample

The northern white-cheeked gibbon is a critically endangered ape native to China, Vietnam and Laos. Scientists have discovered a new species of gibbon, now extinct, that lived in China as recently as 2,200 years ago.

A Chinese tomb has turned up evidence of a new species of long-extinct ape. The gibbon, called Junzi imperialis, lived and died alongside its imperial human caretaker.

(Image credit: Joachim S. Müller/Flickr)