GIBBONS

I. Introduction Apes have 13 species of large, highly intelligent primates, including Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Gibbons, and Orangutans. Apes are sometimes confused with Monkeys, but unlike their smaller primate counterparts, apes do not have tails and their arms are usually longer than their legs. Apes live in tropical woodlands and forests of Africa and Asia. Despite sharing similar habitats, different ape species show striking differences in behaviors and ways of life. At one time, apes were classified …

…their mothers have been killed. The massive forest fires on Sumatra and Borneo in 1997 and 1998 killed thousands of orangutans and destroyed the habitat of thousands more, further endangering the survival of the species. Scientific Classification: The gibbons make up the family Hylobatidae and the great apes make up the family Hominidae. The gorilla is classified as Gorilla gorilla, the common chimpanzee as Pan troglodytes, the bonobo as Pan paniscus, and the orangutan as Pongo pygmaeus.