gibbon

Everyday

A gibbon is a small ape with very long arms and no tail that lives in the rainforests of Southeast Asia and swings quickly from branch to branch through the trees. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons about primates and rainforests, gibbons are the fastest tree-swinging animals (this way of moving is called brachiation), and they sing loud songs in the morning, often in pairs, to mark their territory. Many gibbons are endangered because forests are cut down. Phrases: swing like a gibbon, gibbon song, lesser apes.

Examples

• The gibbon swung from branch to branch at high speed. tree →
• Gibbons sing loud songs every morning. tree →
• A gibbon's arms are longer than its legs. tree →
• Gibbons do not have tails. tree →
• The gibbon pair sang together to tell others to keep away. tree →
• Gibbons live in the forests of Southeast Asia. tree →
• Many kinds of gibbons are in danger because of logging. tree →
• At the zoo we watched the gibbons swinging on ropes. tree →

Note

Countable: a gibbon, gibbons. Pronounced «GIB-un». Trap: gibbons are apes, not monkeys, because they have no tails; they are called «lesser apes», smaller than the great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, bonobos). Edward Gibbon was a famous historian, a name.