Behavior
Gibbons are forest dwellers and are well known for their habit of swinging between the branches of the rainforest on their long arms, a method of locomotion known as brachiation. Gibbons are also adept, however, at walking upright, both on the ground and in the trees. Black crested gibbons live in small family groups consisting of a monogamous male and female and their offspring; occasionally groups reportedly may contain additional mature females. These apes are predominantly arboreal and the group forages and sleeps amongst the trees. Led by the female, the breeding pair partakes in vigorous bouts of singing in the morning, which hauntingly echo through the forest. These ‘duets' are believed to be essential in pair bond formation and reinforcement, and also serve to advertise the presence of the group within the territory. A single young is born every two to three years and the infant is usually weaned once it reaches two years old;
Black crested gibbons feed preferentially on ripe, sugar-rich fruit, such as figs, but occasionally consume vitamin-rich leaf buds, and rarely eat animals.
Read more about this topic: Black Crested Gibbon
Famous quotes containing the word behavior:
“Children, randomly at first, hit upon something sooner or later that is their mother’s and/or father’s Achilles’ heel, a kind of behavior that especially upsets, offends, irritates or embarrasses them. One parent dislikes name-calling, another teasing...another bathroom jokes. For the parents, this behavior my have ties back to their childhood, many have been something not allowed, forbidden, and when it appears in the child, it causes high-voltage reaction in the parent.”
—Ellen Galinsky (20th century)
“Consciousness is cerebral celebrity—nothing more and nothing less. Those contents are conscious that persevere, that monopolize resources long enough to achieve certain typical and “symptomatic” effects—on memory, on the control of behavior and so forth.”
—Daniel Clement Dennett (b. 1942)
“The inability to control our children’s behavior feels the same as not being able to control it in ourselves. And the fact is that primitive behavior in children does unleash primitive behavior in mothers. That’s what frightens mothers most. For young children, even when out of control, do not have the power to destroy their mothers, but mothers who are out of control feel that they may destroy their children.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)