Junzi imperialis | |
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Scientific classification![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
Family: | Hylobatidae |
Genus: | †Junzi Turveyet al., 2018 |
Species: | †J. imperialis |
Binomial name | |
†Junzi imperialis Turveyet al., 2018 |
Junzi imperialis is an extinctspecies ofgibbon that was found in anAncient Chinese noblewoman'stomb. The type species, based on an incompleteskull, was namedJunzi imperialis in 2018 by Samuel Turvey and colleagues.[1] It is believed that when alive, during theWarring States period around 2,200 to 2,300 years ago, the type specimen was owned byLady Xia, the mother ofKing Zhuangxiang of Qin and grandmother ofQin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China.[2]
The holotype skull was discovered when the tomb, located inShaanxi, was opened in 2004. The living animal is thought to have been a member of Lady Xia's menagerie of luxury pets, which also includedcranes,[2]leopards,lynxes, and ablack bear.[3]
The generic name was coined by Turvey and his colleagues in reference to how gibbons were, in ancient China, kept by noblemen scholars, orjunzi (君子), as pets.[2]