Skywalker Hoolock Gibbon

The Skywalker hoolock gibbon, scientifically Hoolock tianxing and first described in January 2017, is one of three hoolock gibbon species and inhabits montane forest in the Mount Gaoligong region of eastern Myanmar and southwestern China, between the Salween River and the Nmai tributary of the Irrawaddy River. Adult males have dark brown fur underneath with a brownish overlay on the back, while females have yellow-white or reddish-blonde underside fur; both sexes have thin, widely separated white eyebrows, and males grow large beards that are either all black or brown. Researchers estimate the species diverged from the eastern hoolock gibbon about 490,000 years ago. Fewer than 150 individuals remain in the wild, out of an eastern hoolock population of 310,000 to 370,000 individuals of which the Skywalker hoolock gibbon makes up less than 1 percent. It is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.