Comments

  1. kreativekaos says

    Interesting… the photo and pose has a sort of
    Al ‘Hirschfeld-esque’ quality to it; could have been a character in one of his drawings.

  2. StevoR says

    Singin’? Eructatin’? Yawnin’? Hollerin’?

    Hard to say which but probably one.

    Also what is it – howler monkey of some variety I’m guessin’?

  3. lexie says

    No, now I think I’m wrong because there is no black patch on the top of it’s head.

  4. JohnnieCanuck says

    Sheesh people, this happens all the time. Check the link first, unless speculating is more fun or something.

    From the NatGeo caption: “A lar, or white-handed, gibbon yawns.”

    The article describes how they are able to produce loud, single-tone calls that travel long distances through dense jungle. So yeah, not a good choice for a pet in a suburb.

  5. Matthew says

    Definitely a yawn. The gibbon is thinking “I’m getting tired of waiting for you stupid humans to go extinct so I can have my planet back”.

  6. blf says

    It’s sending a message to the monolith saying (rough translation) “Mission control? Can I please return home now? These feckers are so stooopid they haven’t discovered slood yet, think digital watches are neat, and are still infested with peas.”

  7. gussnarp says

    When Gibbons call they generally puff out a large throat pouch. And they are loud. I love the gibbons at my zoo, they swing about like gymnasts while hooting at high volume. It’s great fun for the kids. I don’t think I’ve actually heard the white handed gibbons doing it though; the ones at the zoo just don’t seem nearly as interested in noisy display as the Siamang gibbons. They’re smallish and maybe not as loud as the Siamang gibbons, who are the big loud ones. Also not sure how much throat pouch they have. But I do love gibbons. One of the many particularly educational animals at the zoo. Kids really are fascinated by the apes, and it’s a great way to get them thinking about how we’re all related, even at an early age. Plus, I love that when the other kids go “Look at the monkeys”, mine will say, “They’re not monkeys, they’re gibbons.” Ah, little pedants.

  8. Die Anyway says

    I looked at those teeth and thought “damn, that doesn’t look like a vegetarian”. So I checked. It’s a bit of an omnivore but mostly vegetarian: “In general, when data is combined among study sites, the lar gibbon diet includes fruit (66%), leaves (24%), flowers (1%), and insects (9%) although in individual studies there can be some significant variation by locality”

    The teeth must be primarily a defense mechanism. Works for me.

  9. StevoR says

    @ 11. JohnnieCanuck :

    Sheesh people, this happens all the time. Check the link first, unless speculating is more fun or something.

    Oh. Right. Doh. Yep, shoulda done that although guessing is kinda fun too. Cheers.

    Linked article there with monkeys on helium was pretty good and worth clicking too.

  10. Rumtopf says

    Pfft, links! Where’s the fun in that?

    (Dammit, a minute of google image searching for no reason. :c)