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Genomics

Something to swing about

Nature volume 513, pages 174–175 (2014)Cite this article

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The first gibbon genome to be sequenced provides clues about how genomes can be shuffled in short evolutionary time frames, and about how gibbons adapted and diversified in the jungles of southeast Asia. See Article p.195

The gibbon — a singing, swinging, southeast-Asian ape of the Hylobatidae family — occupies a poorly understood branch of the primate family tree. Despite being superficially similar to monkeys, gibbons share many traits with humans: pair bonding and monogamy; the lack of a tail; the ability to walk upright on legs; and a fondness for singing. Our understanding of gibbon evolution is now set to improve because they have just joined an exclusive primate club whose members include humans, chimpanzees and orangutans. On page 195 of this issue, Carbone et al.1 report that they have sequenced the genome of Asia, a white-cheeked gibbon of the Nomascus genus. Their analysis unveils unique genomic features that shed light on some of the mysteries surrounding the evolutionary history of this remarkable mammalian family.

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Figure 1: Evolution of gibbons.
Figure 2: King of the swingers.

Terry Whittaker/FLPA

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michael J. O'Neill and Rachel J. O'Neill are at the Institute for Systems Genomics and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.,

    Michael J. O'Neill & Rachel J. O'Neill

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  1. Michael J. O'Neill
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  2. Rachel J. O'Neill
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Correspondence to Michael J. O'Neill or Rachel J. O'Neill.

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O'Neill, M., O'Neill, R. Something to swing about. Nature 513, 174–175 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/513174a

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