WASHINGTON, June 21 (Xinhua) -- A new species of gibbon has been identified in an unexpected place: the tomb of an ancient Chinese noble-woman, perhaps the grandmother of China's first emperor, according to a study published on Thursday in the journal Science.
The remains of an extinct gibbon represented the first documented evidence of ape extinction following the last ice-age and the gibbon may have also been the first to vanish as a direct result of human activity.
The findings challenged the notion that ape species hadn't been rendered extinct by humans, throughout time.
The remains of the gibbon were discovered amidst the grave-menagerie of an approximately 2,200 to 2,300-year-old tomb in the ancient capital city of Chang'an, in modern Shaanxi Province in China.
At the time, gibbons were perceived as noble, and also kept as high-status pets.
The tomb in which the remains were found and perhaps the gibbon itself may have belonged to Lady Xia, the grandmother of China's first emperor Qin Shihuang.
The gibbon's remains consisted primarily of a partial facial skeleton.
Researchers compared them to known living and extinct hylobatids and found it a new genus and species, based on detailed analyses of cranial and dental measurements. They named it Junzi imperialis.
Their results suggested that until recently, eastern Asia supported a previously unknown, yet historically extinct population of apes, and that human-caused primate diversity loss in the past might be underestimated.
Historical accounts described gibbons being caught near Chang'an into the 10th century and inhabiting Shaanxi Province until the 18th century. These recent accounts may represent other undescribed, now extinct, species, according to the study.