Head to head
Silvery Gibbon vs Western Black Crested Gibbon
The silvery gibbon and western black crested gibbon are both critically threatened apes confined to small fragments of their former range, but their locations and coat colours set them apart.
| Silvery Gibbon | Western Black Crested Gibbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Hylobates moloch | Nomascus concolor |
| Coat colour | Silvery-grey in both sexes | Black males, golden females |
| Range | Java, Indonesia only | Southern China and northern Vietnam |
| Primary threat | Island-wide habitat fragmentation | Historical hunting and habitat loss |
| Rarity | One of the most endangered gibbons | One of the rarest primates on Earth |
| Conservation status | Endangered | Critically Endangered |
| Population trend | Decreasing | Decreasing |
| Habitat | Rainforest | Rainforest, mountains |
Silvery Gibbon vs Western Black Crested Gibbon: common questions
Which is rarer, the silvery gibbon or the western black crested gibbon?
The western black crested gibbon is generally considered rarer, classified as Critically Endangered and counted among the rarest primates on Earth, while the silvery gibbon, though also seriously threatened and classified as Endangered, retains a somewhat larger overall population confined to Java.
Why do male and female western black crested gibbons look so different while silvery gibbons do not?
The western black crested gibbon shows dramatic sexual dichromatism, with males entirely black and females a buff or golden colour, while the silvery gibbon has a uniform silvery-grey coat in both sexes, making colour a reliable way to sex individuals of one species but not the other.
Where do these two endangered gibbons live?
The silvery gibbon is found nowhere in the world outside the Indonesian island of Java, while the western black crested gibbon is restricted to a small number of isolated mountain forest patches spanning southern China and northern Vietnam, meaning the two species occupy entirely separate parts of Asia.