Mystery Ape Found In Ancient Chinese Tomb

[Nemo]

Mystery extinct ape found in ancient Chinese tomb.

An ape that is new to science has been discovered buried in an ancient tomb in China.

The gibbon has already become extinct, suggesting humans wiped out primate populations long before the modern age.

Living primates are in peril, with many on the brink of extinction.

The new gibbon, named Junzi imperialis, may be the first to vanish as a direct result of human actions, according to scientists led by the Zoological Society of London.

"All of the world's apes - chimpanzees, gorillas, orang-utans and gibbons - are threatened with extinction today due to human activities, but no ape species were thought to have become extinct as a result of hunting or habitat loss," said lead researcher Dr Samuel Turvey.

"However, the discovery of the recently extinct Junzi changes this, and highlights the vulnerability of gibbons in particular." (c) BBC '18.

A possible origin of the "Chinese Vampire/Jiangshi"? I'll let somebody, who well versed in Oriental myths/Legends to explain further & too correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[James_H]

A possible origin of the "Chinese Vampire/Jiangshi"? I'll let somebody, who well versed in Oriental myths/Legends to explain further & too correct me if I'm wrong.

If you're referring to the name, it seems that this one is named after 'Junzi' ('君子', 'gentleman' a kind of title. The reasoning is that a certain kind of official was well known for keeping gibbons) and not 'Jiangshi' ('殭屍' vampire, lit. 'Stiff corpse'). If the movement, aren't gibbons more swingers than hoppers?

About exotic animals in ancient china: The article makes reference to the fact that gibbons were kept as luxury pets. On a sidenote, something I find completely fascinating is that while a few Chinese royals had kept pet pandas at different points in time, they were so rare that they were thought by many to be mythical beasts on a par with dragons, chinese unicorns etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_panda#Early_references

As the Wiki says: there are no known artistic representations of the panda prior to the 20th century. Isn't that nuts?

Another thing is that while depicted lions are common in Chinese culture (for example in stone lion sculptures and the lion dance), there were never any lions in China. Stone lions come from Indian representations, and the lion dance may come from the parthians, whose dance survived through the chinese imperial court. No wonder they don't look much like actual lions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_dance#History