NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Eastern Black Crested Gibbon
Nomascus nasutus (Kunkel d'Herculais, 1884)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The eastern black crested gibbon (Nomascus nasutus), also called Cao-vit black crested gibbon or the Cao-vit crested gibbon, is a Critically Endangered species of gibbon from southeast China and northern Vietnam. The term "Cao-vit" originated from the sounds of their calls or songs that villagers of Ngoc Khe, Phong Nam and Ngoc Con communes of Trung Khanh District, Cao Bang Province of Vietnam use to name for them. This name was officially used by gibbon experts since the rediscovery. From the 1960s until the 2000s there had been no confirmed sightings of the eastern black-crested gibbon and it was thought to be possibly extinct. In 2002 a small population was rediscovered by two FFI biologists in a karst forest of Trùng Khánh District, Cao Bằng Province, in northeast Vietnam. The species was endemic to Vietnam until 2006 when they were also found in a small forest in Guangxi Province of China, which is adjacent to Trung Khanh forests. In 2005 it was estimated that this population in Vietnam side was about 35–37 individuals.
Wikipedia contributors, Eastern black crested gibbon; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:47:56.037243+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nomascus nasutus (Kunkel d'Herculais, 1884)
- Name authority
- (Kunkel d'Herculais, 1884)
- Common name
- Eastern Black Crested Gibbon
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Primates
- Family
- Hylobatidae
- Genus
- Nomascus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
- suborderHaplorrhini Pocock, 1918
- infraorderSimiiformes Haeckel, 1866
- superfamilyHominoidea Gray, 1825
- familyHylobatidae Gray, 1871
- genusNomascus Miller, 1933
- speciesNomascus nasutus (Kunkel d'Herculais, 1884)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Nomascus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Yellow-cheeked Crested GibbonNomascus annamensis Thinh, Mootnick, Thanh, Nadler & Roos, 2010 | HylobatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hainan Crested GibbonNomascus hainanus (Thomas, 1892) | HylobatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black Crested GibbonNomascus concolor (Harlan, 1826) | HylobatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Buff-cheeked GibbonNomascus gabriellae (Thomas, 1909) | HylobatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern White-cheeked Crested GibbonNomascus leucogenys (Ogilby, 1840) | HylobatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern White-cheeked Crested GibbonNomascus siki (Delacour, 1951) | HylobatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Nomascus concolor nasutus (Kunkel d'Herculais, 1884) (Kunkel d'Herculais, 1884) | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=944287 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:47NQQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.