Tapanuli orangutan
| Pongo tapanuliensis | |
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| Adult male | |
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| Adult female | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | Hominidae |
| Genus: | Pongo |
| Species: | P. tapanuliensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Pongo tapanuliensis Nater et al. (2017) |
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| Approximate location in Sumatra | |
The Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) is a species of orangutan, native to South Tapanuli in the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. It is one of three known species of orangutan, alongside Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii), found farther northwest in the island, and Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). It was described as a distinct species in 2017 and represents the first extant species of great ape to be described since the bonobo (Pan paniscus) in 1929.
An isolated population of orangutans in Batang Toru of South Tapanuli was first reported by an expedition in 1997, but it was not recognized as a distinct species then.Pongo tapanuliensis was identified as a distinct species of orangutan in 2017, following a detailed phylogenetic study. The study collected genetic samples from 37 individuals, and conducted a morphological analysis of 33 adult male orangutans. A key component of the study was the skeleton of an adult male that died after being wounded by locals, which would later be designated as the holotype of the species. The specimen was found to have distinctive physical features compared to the primary specimen group, particularly in certain characteristics of the skull and teeth. The skull and postcranium of the specimen are stored in the Zoological Museum of Bogor. The genetic study also indicated that the Batang Toru population should be considered a separate species, with the two samples taken from the population showing significant differences from the other two orangutan species in a principal component analysis.
Genetic comparisons show that Tapanuli orangutans diverged from Sumatran orangutans about 3 million years ago, but became more isolated after the Lake Toba eruption that occurred about 75,000 years ago. They had continued sporadic contact that stopped at least 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. Tapanuli orangutans diverged from Bornean orangutans much later, about 670,000 years ago. Orangutans travelled from Sumatra to Borneo as the islands were connected by land bridges as parts of Sundaland during recent glacial periods when sea levels were much lower. The present range of Tapanuli orangutans is thought to be close to the area where ancestral orangutans first entered what is now Indonesia from mainland Asia.
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Wikipedia