gibbon, small ape, genus Hyloblates, found in the forests of SE Asia. The gibbons, including the siamang, are known as the small, or lesser, apes; they are the most highly adapted of the apes to arboreal life. Gibbons are about 3 ft (90 cm) tall and weigh about 15 lb (6.4 kg). Their arms are extremely long in proportion to their body length, and they swing through the trees with great speed and agility, clearing gaps up to 20 ft (6 m) wide. On the ground they walk on two feet, holding their arms up awkwardly; they can also run on all fours. Members of most gibbon species have black faces surrounded by a white ruff; their fur ranges in color from black to buff. Some species, e.g., white-handed gibbon, have sexual dimorphism in coloration. Like Old World monkeys and unlike other apes, gibbons have callosities on their buttocks. Gibbons live in permanent families consisting of a male, a female, and their young; families occupy definite territories. They feed on fruits and other plant matter as well as insects and other small animals. Gibbons have powerful voices and at times engage in loud howling, which is answered by other gibbons in the vicinity. The largest gibbon is the siamang, sometimes classified in a separate genus, Symphalangus. Deep black, with a reddish brown face, the siamang may weigh up to 25 lb (11.3 kg). Siamangs are further distinguished by the presence in both sexes of a large vocal sac on the throat; this sac is inflated before the animal howls and probably functions to magnify the sound. Such a sac is also found in the male concolor gibbon (Hyloblates concolor). Siamangs are found in the high mountain forests of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. The gibbons are highly endangered because of habitat destruction. Gibbons are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Primates, family Pongidae.

Wakefield, Edward Gibbon, 1796-1862, British colonial statesman. He was attached to the British embassies in Turin (1814-16) and Paris (1820-26), but in 1826 was convicted of an attempt to marry an heiress by trickery. While in prison (1827-30) Wakefield prepared material for a book on capital punishment (pub. 1831) and studied colonial affairs. He evolved his important theory of systematic colonization, embodied in such works as A Letter from Sydney (1829) and A View of the Art of Colonization (1849). Concerned by the problems of increasing population, with resultant poverty and crime, he advocated the settlement of the colonies by ordinary citizens rather than by transported convicts. He argued that land should be sold in small lots at a moderate fixed price instead of given away (the funds thus gathered to be used to support further colonization), and some self-government should be allowed. These influential ideas led to the founding (1834) of the South Australian Association and the establishment of the South Australian colony. Wakefield accompanied (1838) Lord Durham to Canada as an adviser and influenced Durham's report on Canadian government. In 1839 he founded the New Zealand Land Company, which colonized part of that territory. He went to New Zealand in 1852 and entered into politics there, but suffered a complete breakdown in 1854.

Gibbon, John, 1827-96, Union general in the Civil War, b. near Holmesburg (now part of Philadelphia), Pa., grad. West Point, 1847. Made a brigadier general of volunteers (1862), he fought in the second battle of Bull Run, at South Mt., at Antietam, and in the Wilderness campaign (1864). After the war he fought in the Indian wars in the West. He commanded one of the columns that moved against the Sioux in 1876. The next year he fought an inconclusive battle with the Nez Percés at Big Hole in W Montana. He wrote Personal Recollections of the Civil War, which was published posthumously in 1928.

Gibbon, Edward, 1737-94, English historian, author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. His childhood was sickly, and he had little formal education but read enormously and omnivorously. He went at the age of 15 to Oxford, but was forced to leave because of his conversion to Roman Catholicism. His father sent him (1753) to Lausanne, where he was formally reconverted to Protestantism. Actually, he became a skeptic and later greatly offended the pious by his famous chapters of historical criticism of Christianity in his great work. In Lausanne he fell in love with the penniless daughter of a pastor, Suzanne Curchod (who was later to be the great intellectual, Mme Necker). The two were engaged to be married, but Gibbon's father refused consent. Gibbon "sighed as a lover" but "obeyed as a son" and gave up the match. He left Lausanne in 1758. It was on a visit to Rome that he conceived the idea of his magnificent and panoramic history. This appeared as The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (6 vol., 1776-88) and won immediate acclaim, despite some harsh criticism. Gibbon himself was assured of the greatness of his work, which is, indeed, one of the most-read historical works of modern times. He entered upon a short and highly inglorious political career, serving as a member of Parliament from 1774 to 1783. He violently opposed the American Revolution, although later he was to look with favor on the more radical French Revolution. In 1783 he withdrew to Lausanne, where he completed his masterpiece. His own Memoirs of His Life and Writings, commonly called the Autobiography, first appeared in a heavily bowderlized form in the edition of his miscellaneous works by Lord Sheffield in 1796 (repr. 1959). The autobiography is, however, one of the most subtle and interesting works of its kind in English. An edition of Gibbon's original six drafts appeared as The Autobiographies in 1896. A new edition, edited by G. A. Bonnard, was published in 1969 (Am. ed.). Editions of the Decline and Fall are legion. The modern standard edition is that of J. B. Bury (7 vol., 1896-1900).

Any of about six species (genus Hylobates) of lesser apes (family Hylobatidae), found in Indo-Malayan forests. Gibbons use their long arms to swing from branch to branch. They walk erect on the ground, live in small groups, and feed on shoots and fruits, as well as on some insects, birds' eggs, and young birds. They have long hair and are about 16–26 in. (40–65 cm) long. Their coats vary from tan or silvery to brown or black. They have large canine teeth, and their voices are noted for their volume, musical quality, and carrying power.

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(born March 20, 1796, London, Eng.—died May 16, 1862, Wellington, N.Z.) British colonizer of South Australia and New Zealand. After viewing the problems of the penal system, including the forcible removal of convicts to British colonies, he wrote A Letter from Sydney (1829) and proposed colonization by the sale of small landholdings to ordinary citizens. He influenced the founding of South Australia as a nonconvict settlement. As organizer and manager of the New Zealand Company (1838–58), he sent colonists to settle New Zealand and forced the British government to recognize the colony. As an adviser to the earl of Durham, he influenced the report that led to the union of Upper and Lower Canada. He founded a Church of England settlement at Canterbury, N.Z. (1847).

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(born May 8, 1737, Putney, Surrey, Eng.—died Jan. 16, 1794, London) British historian. Educated at the University of Oxford and in Switzerland, Gibbon wrote his early works in French. In London he became a member of Samuel Johnson's brilliant intellectual circle. On a trip to Rome he was inspired to write the history of the city. His Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 6 vol. (1776–88), is a continuous narrative from the 2nd century AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Though Gibbon's conclusions have been modified by later scholars, his acumen, historical perspective, and superb literary style have given his work its lasting reputation as one of the greatest historical works.

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(born March 20, 1796, London, Eng.—died May 16, 1862, Wellington, N.Z.) British colonizer of South Australia and New Zealand. After viewing the problems of the penal system, including the forcible removal of convicts to British colonies, he wrote A Letter from Sydney (1829) and proposed colonization by the sale of small landholdings to ordinary citizens. He influenced the founding of South Australia as a nonconvict settlement. As organizer and manager of the New Zealand Company (1838–58), he sent colonists to settle New Zealand and forced the British government to recognize the colony. As an adviser to the earl of Durham, he influenced the report that led to the union of Upper and Lower Canada. He founded a Church of England settlement at Canterbury, N.Z. (1847).

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(born May 8, 1737, Putney, Surrey, Eng.—died Jan. 16, 1794, London) British historian. Educated at the University of Oxford and in Switzerland, Gibbon wrote his early works in French. In London he became a member of Samuel Johnson's brilliant intellectual circle. On a trip to Rome he was inspired to write the history of the city. His Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 6 vol. (1776–88), is a continuous narrative from the 2nd century AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Though Gibbon's conclusions have been modified by later scholars, his acumen, historical perspective, and superb literary style have given his work its lasting reputation as one of the greatest historical works.

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