Morphometric, Behavioral, and Genomic Evidence for a New Orangutan Species

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Morphometric, Behavioral, and Genomic Evidence for a New Orangutan Species Highlights

Authors

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We describe a new species of great apes, the Tapanuli orangutan Pongo tapanuliensis

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Genomic analyses corroborate morphological distinctiveness of P. tapanuliensis

Alexander Nater, Maja P. Mattle-Greminger, Anton Nurcahyo, Matthew G. Nowak, ..., Erik Meijaard, Michael Kru¨tzen

P. tapanuliensis comprises the oldest evolutionary lineage in the genus Pongo

Correspondence

With fewer than 800 individuals, P. tapanuliensis is among the most endangered great apes

alexander.nater@uzh.ch (A.N.), emeijaard@gmail.com (E.M.), michael.kruetzen@aim.uzh.ch (M.K.)

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In Brief Nater et al. describe a new great ape species, the Tapanuli orangutan Pongo tapanuliensis. An isolated population from Batang Toru is highly distinct from the northern Sumatran and Bornean species, based on morphological variation, corroborated by population genomic analyses. Fewer than 800 individuals of P. tapanuliensis survive in the wild.

Nater et al., 2017, Current Biology 27, 1–12 November 20, 2017 ª 2017 Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.047


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