Evolution of Gibbons and Siamang

CLAUDIA BARELLI is a primatologist and conservation scientist with a PhD in biology on female gibbons’ reproductive strategies. She is currently a research fellow at MUSE - Science Museum in Trento, Italy. Her major research interests integrated morphological and behavioral studies with genetics, endocrinology and parasitology to address questions relating to reproductive strategies, life history, signaling, sexual selection and evolution in primates. A second focus of her research involves conservation physiology with emphasis on developing multidisciplinary methods that integrate population ecology with metagenomics and physiological approaches for the rapid assessment of threatened populations to address questions concerning human/wildlife interactions and biodiversity conservation. HIROHISA HIRAI is a Professor of Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Former Director of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University, Japan. His primary research interests are in molecular cytogenetics and chromosome evolution in primates. Especially, he is interested in constitutive heterochromatin, rDNA genomic dispersion, centromere and telomere of hylobatids, hominids, and platyrrhines. ULRICH H. REICHARD is Associate Professor of Biological Anthropology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, U.S.A. He co-authored Monogamy: Mating Strategies and Partnerships in Birds, Humans and other Mammals (2003). His research interests are wide, spanning topics related to the ecology, behavior, and cognition of primates, particularly small apes, with the purpose of finding answers to questions about what makes us human. For nearly thirty years his empirical work has focused on the primate community of Khao Yai National Park, Thailand, where he and his team of students and colleagues study the life history, vocal communication, and spatial intelligence of white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar). Current investigations also involve reproductive strategies of male and female northern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca leonina).

Introduction.- The Evolution of Gibbons and Siamang.- The Role of Historical and Fossil Records in Predicting Changes in the Spatial Distribution of Hylobatids.- Locomotion and Posture in Ancestral Hominoids Prior to the Split of Hylobatids.- The Fossil Record and Evolutionary History of Hylobatids.- Climate and Geography of Asia: Miocene to Pleistocene.- Unique evolution of heterochromatin and alpha satellite DNA in small apes.- Phylogeny and Classification of Gibbons (Hylobatidae).- Why is the Siamang Larger than other Hylobatids?.- Gibbons to Gorillas: Allometric Issues in Hominoid Cranial Evolution.- Hylobates lar).- Selective Value of Characteristic Size Parameters in Hylobatids. A Biomechanical Approach to Small Ape Size and Morphology.- Hand Manipulation Skills in Hylobatids.- The Evolution of Technical Intelligence: Perspectives from theHylobatidae.- Communication and Cognition of Small Apes.- Gibbon songs: Understanding the Evolution and Development of this Unique Form of Vocal Communication.