It’s amazing to think that after all these years scientists are still finding new species of animals, and the newest find happens to have a name synonymous with Jedi greatness.
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A team of researchers was studying Hoolock gibbons in southwest China, led by Fan Peng-Fei from Sun Yat-sen University (via BBC). The team started to notice that the gibbons they were studying were a bit different, citing some visual and behavior differences. Hoolock gibbons have white eyebrows and some have white beards, but these didn’t fit the same mold. The songs they sing to bond with other gibbons was also different, so the team ran a physical and genetic comparison. The results? They were indeed a different species and were given the name Hoolock tianxing.
Thanks to that scientific name and also the research team’s love of Star Wars, the new species officially goes by the title of Skywalker hoolock gibbon. Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill was elated at the news, posting on Twitter “So proud of this! First the Pez dispenser, then the Underoos & U.S. postage stamp…now this! #GorillaMyDreams #SimianSkywalker #JungleJedi”
The process of even finding them was rather difficult, something Luke would appreciate from his time on Dagobah. Dr. Sam Turvey of the Zoological Society of London was also part of the research team and described the process of trying to locate these animals.
“It’s difficult to get into the reserve. You have to hike up to above 2,500m to find the gibbons. That’s where the good quality forest usually starts – everywhere below there has been logged. Then you have to wake up really early in the morning and you listen out for the haunting song of the gibbons, which carries in the forest canopy. And when you hear it, you rush through the mud and the mist, and run for hundreds of metres to try and catch up with these gibbons. The low number of surviving animals and the threat they face from habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and hunting means we think they should be classified as an endangered species.”
Hopefully, that happens soon because no one wants to lose these wonderful creatures after scientists just discovered them.
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