'Jumping gene' behind gibbon's divergence from other apes, DNA map shows

Scientists have unravelled the genetic code of the gibbon, shedding light on one of the most enigmatic apes.

Gibbons, whose rainforest home ranges from northeast India to Southeast Asia and southern China, occupy an unusual place in the primate family tree. Lithe creatures which use super-long arms to swing acrobatically from branch to branch, they are, officially, lesser apes.

They are superficially similar to monkeys yet also share many characteristics with humans, who are part of the great ape group with chimps, bonobos, orang-utans and gorillas.

Gibbons bond in pairs and are monogamous, lack a tail, walk upright on legs - and even have a fondness for singing as they call to each other across the jungle.

Reporting in the journal Nature on Wednesday, an international team said they had sequenced the genome of a female northern white-cheeked gibbon, Nomascus leucogenys in Latin.

Genetically, gibbons were the first primate species to diverge from great apes, an event that happened around 17 million years ago, the scientists said.