【卫报】长臂猿新物种丨第4期

A female gibbon, a newly discovered species in Yunnan, China.

Photograph: Fan Pengfei/ZS L

一只母长臂猿，中国云南发现新物种

摄影：范朋飞、伦敦动物学会

Scientists have discovered a new species of gibbon living in south-west China's rainforests.

科学家在中国西南部雨林发现了一种新的长臂猿物种。

Although scientists had been studying the primate for some time, new research has revealed it is in fact a different species.

尽管科学家研究这一类灵长类动物为时已久，但最新的研究表示它实际上是一种新物种。

It has been named the Skywalker hoolock gibbon by its discoverers, who are Star Wars fans. The name is also a nod to the fact that the Chinese characters of its scientific name, Hoolock tianxing, mean "Heaven's movement".

因为发现者是个《星球大战》迷，他将其命名为“天行者白眉长臂猿”。这个名字也体现了科学名称中的中国元素，“天行”，意为“上天的运行”。

Dr Sam Turvey, from the Zoological Society of London, who was part of the team studying the apes, told BBC News: "In this area, so many species have declined or gone extinct because of habitat loss, hunting and general human overpopulation. So it's an absolute privilege to see something as special and as rare as a gibbon in a canopy in a Chinese rainforest, and especially when it turns out that the gibbons are actually a new species previously unrecognised by science." （读者试译句）