Editing Gibbon (section)

==Behavior==
[[File:Agilegibbon.jpg|thumb|left|[[Agile gibbon]], ''Hylobates agilis'']]

Like all primates, gibbons are social animals. They are strongly territorial, and defend their boundaries with vigorous visual and vocal displays. The vocal element, which can often be heard for distances up to {{Cvt|1|km|abbr=on}}, consists of a duet between a mated pair, with their young sometimes joining in. In most species, males and some females sing solos to attract mates, as well as advertise their territories.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Clarke E, Reichard UH, Zuberbühler K |title=The Syntax and Meaning of Wild Gibbon Songs |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=1 |issue= 1|pages=e73 |year=2006 |pmid=17183705 |pmc=1762393 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0000073 |editor1-last=Emery |editor1-first=Nathan|bibcode=2006PLoSO...1...73C |doi-access=free }}</ref> The song can be used to identify not only which species of gibbon is singing, but also the area from which it comes.<ref>Glover, Hilary. [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-02/bc-rgf020411.php Recognizing gibbons from their regional accents], BioMed Central, EurekAlert.org, 6 February 2011.</ref>

Gibbons often retain the same mate for life, although they do not always remain sexually monogamous. In addition to [[extra-pair copulation]]s, pair-bonded gibbons occasionally "divorce".<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Reichard | first1 = U | year = 1995 | title = Extra-pair copulations in a monogamous gibbon (Hylobates lar) | doi =10.1111/j.1439-0310.1995.tb00319.x | journal = Ethology | volume = 100 | issue = 2| pages = 99–112 | bibcode = 1995Ethol.100...99R }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = The Encyclopedia of World Wildlife|last1 = Briggs|first1 = Mike|publisher = Parragon|year = 2005|isbn = 978-1405456807|pages = 146|first2 = Peggy|last2 = Briggs}}</ref> About 10% of gibbon groups studied in the wild contained more than two adults.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fuentes |first=Agustin |date=2000 |title=Hylobatid communities: Changing views on pair bonding and social organization in hominoids |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1096-8644(2000)43:31+%3C33::AID-AJPA3%3E3.0.CO;2-D |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |language=en |volume=113 |issue=S31 |pages=33–60 |doi=10.1002/1096-8644(2000)43:31+<33::AID-AJPA3>3.0.CO;2-D |issn=1096-8644}}</ref> In these cases, the limitation of food availability on group size may be relaxed, allowing more adults to congregate together without a significant increase in competition.<ref>{{Citation |last=Malone |first=Nicholas |title=The Ecology and Evolution of Hylobatid Communities: Causal and Contextual Factors Underlying Inter- and Intraspecific Variation |date=2009 |work=The Gibbons: New Perspectives on Small Ape Socioecology and Population Biology |pages=241–264 |editor-last=Whittaker |editor-first=Danielle |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-88604-6_12 |access-date=2024-12-03 |place=New York, NY |publisher=Springer |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-88604-6_12 |isbn=978-0-387-88604-6 |last2=Fuentes |first2=Agustin |editor2-last=Lappan |editor2-first=Susan}}</ref>

Gibbons are among nature's best [[brachiation|brachiators]]. Their ball-and-socket wrist joints allow them unmatched speed and accuracy when swinging through trees. Nonetheless, their mode of transportation can lead to hazards when a branch breaks or a hand slips, and researchers estimate that the majority of gibbons suffer bone fractures one or more times during their lifetimes.<ref name=LOM/> They are the fastest of all tree-dwelling, nonflying mammals.<ref name=LOM>[[David Attenborough|Attenborough, David]]. ''[[Life of Mammals]]'', "Episode 8: Life in the Trees", BBC Warner, 2003.</ref> On the ground, gibbons tend to walk bipedally, and their [[Achilles tendon]] morphology is more similar to that of humans than that of any other ape.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Aerts|first1=P.|last2=d'Août|first2=K.|last3=Thorpe|first3=S.|last4=Berillon|first4=G.|last5=Vereecke|first5=E.|year=2018|title=The gibbon's Achilles tendon revisited: consequences for the evolution of the great apes?|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B|volume=285|issue=1880|pages=20180859|doi=10.1098/rspb.2018.0859|pmid=29899076 |pmc=6015853 }}</ref>