World's rarest primate has bounced back from brink of extinction
Scientists may have discovered why one of the most threatened species in the world has bounced back from the brink of extinction.
Populations of the Hainan gibbon – a critically endangered primate species found on the Hainan island on the South China Sea – dwindled to as low as 13 individuals by 2003. But the population experienced a "mysterious" rebound from near-extinction, nearly tripling in the two decades since, according to a paper published in Science Advances.
"In the past two decades, though, the primates have steadily regained ground," the authors wrote.
An estimated 42 individual Hainan gibbons now live on the island, according to the study, rebounding despite low genetic diversity.
-more-
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/why-species-may-bounced-back-201352730.html