Peng-Fei Fan

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Verified

Peng-Fei verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Sun Yat-sen University

To achieve the grand vision of ‘Ecological Civilization’ and to build a more sustainable Belt and Road Initiative, China’s conservation policies must be underpinned by research. However, recent institutional and vertebrate conservation scientists’ publication data suggest that China has a growing conservation research capacity deficit. China lacks...

Building conservation research capacity (CRC), especially in developing countries, has long been proposed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Yet, a global evaluation of CRC and its impact on biodiversity conservation is still lacking. Here, by analyzing over 177,000 scientific papers frommajor conservation journals published after 2000, we deri...

Aim Biodiversity hotspots often span international borders, thus conservation efforts must as well. China is one of the most biodiverse countries and the length of its international land borders is the longest in the world; thus, there is a strong need for transboundary conservation. We identify China's transboundary conservation hotspots and analy...

Species shift their distribution in response to climate and land‐cover change, which may result in a spatial mismatch between currently protected areas (PAs) and priority conservation areas (PCAs). We examined the effects of climate and land‐cover change on potential range of gibbons and sought to identify PCAs that would conserve them effectively....

Collisions between fast-moving objects often cause severe damage, but collision avoidance mechanisms of fast-moving animals remain understudied. Particularly, birds can fly fast and often in large groups, raising the question of how individuals avoid in-flight collisions that are potentially lethal. We tested the collision-avoidance hypothesis, whi...

In forested environments it is challenging for fruit-eating animals to select fruits that meet their nutritional needs. Primates base their food choices on fruit phenotypic traits such as color and tactile cues to determine nutrient content to improve foraging efficiency. However, are fruit phenotypic traits reliable indicators of nutrient content?...

Conservation practices for extremely small populations must be grounded in solid science to prevent extinction. Hainan gibbon ( Nomascus hainanus ) is the world’s rarest primate species; however, insufficient data on its habitat suitability and genetic status impede evidence-based decisions for habitat restoration. Here, we conducted a comprehensiv...

Cao vit gibbon ( Nomascus nasutus ) is one of the world's 25 most endangered primate species, with only one population of 11 groups living in a small karst forest patch along the China–Vietnam international border. Assisted habitat regeneration is underway in both China and Vietnam to conserve the species. However, the lack of crucial information o...

The lack of knowledge regarding the basic ecological traits of an endangered species may lead to traps in habitat restoration efforts. Understanding the ranging ecology of endangered species is essential in avoiding these traps. The Hainan gibbon ( Nomascus hainanus ), the world's rarest primate, reportedly takes refuge in suboptimal montane habita...

Wild animals face numerous challenges in less ideal habitats, including the lack of food as well as changes in diet. Understanding how the gut microbiomes of wild animals adapt to changes in food resources within suboptimal habitats is critical for their survival. Therefore, we conducted a longitudinal sampling of three gibbon species living in hig...

The vocal structure of gibbons has long been believed to be under strong genetic control and consistent with phylogeny. Gibbon vocalizations show hierarchical structures and song coordination behaviors, which may have different functions and convey distinct information compared to basic notes. However, previous studies have not compared vocalizatio...

Expanding protected areas (PAs) coverage to match countries' conservation responsibility is vital to stemming global biodiversity loss. Uneven biodiversity distribution and conservation responsibility among countries pose challenges to the implementation of conservation targets, and currently diminish conservation effectiveness. Using primates as a...

Despite decades of field study, very little is known about the molecular ecology of gibbons, particularly as it relates to their ability to disperse across degraded and fragmentary landscapes. The critically endangered western black crested gibbon ( Nomascus concolor ) has been reduced to a small, fragmented population with about 1300 individuals....

Conducting conservation research and establishing protected areas (PAs) based on research results are critical to biodiversity conservation. However, the effect of research and PAs on conservation of threatened species has rarely been evaluated simultaneously. We collected data on PAs from 2000 for 2021 and determined the number of publications on...

As a central topic in Behavioral Ecology, animal space use involves dynamic responses to social and ecological factors. We collared 22 rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ) from six groups on Neilingding Island, China, and collected 80,625 hourly fixes over a year. Using this high‐resolution location data set, we quantified the macaques' space use at...

Characterizing genetically distinct populations of primates is important for protecting biodiversity and effectively allocating conservation resources. Skywalker gibbons (Hoolock tianxing) were first described in 2017, with the only confirmed population consisting of 150 individuals in Mt. Gaoligong, Yunnan Province, China. Based on river geography...

The dual impact of climate change and human activities has precipitated a sharp decline in primate biodiversity globally. China is home to the most diverse primate species in the Northern hemisphere, which face severe ecological threats due to the expansion of modern agriculture, extensive exploitation and consumption of natural resources, and exce...

It has been extensively studied that the gut microbiome provides animals flexibility to adapt to food variability. Yet, how gut phageome responds to diet variation of wild animals remains unexplored. Here, we analyze the eco-evolutionary dynamics of gut phageome in six wild gibbons (Hoolock tianxing) by collecting individually-resolved fresh fecal...

Song coordination is a universal characteristic of human music. Many animals also produce well-coordinated duets or choruses that resemble human music. However, the mechanism and evolution of song coordination have only recently been studied in animals. Here, we studied the mechanism of song coordination in three closely related species of wild Nom...

The cao vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus) is one of the rarest primates on Earth and now only survives in a single forest patch of less than 5000 ha on the Vietnam–China border. Accurate monitoring of the last remaining population is critical to inform ongoing conservation interventions and track conservation success over time. However, traditional met...

All known species of the genus Nomascus have distinct sexual dichromatism in adulthood. The changes in their pelage colour are used as an important indicator of individuals' sexes, ages, and ontogenetic stages. This study is focused on Hainan gibbons (Nomascus hainanus), the rarest primate in the world, and combines the data of circa 2 years of con...

Populations of Eurasian otters Lutra lutra, one of the most widely distributed apex predators in Eurasia, have been depleted mainly since the 1950s. However, a lack of information about their genomic diversity and how they are organized geographically in East Asia severely impedes our ability to monitor and conserve them in particular management un...

Background & Aim: With high diversity, wide distribution, and close relationships with humans, mammals play an irreplaceable role in maintaining the stability and balance of ecosystems. China has some of the richest ecosystem and mammal diversity in the world. However, the status of wildlife resources in most of these ecosystems is still not well u...

Here we review the conservation status of all six gibbon species that occur in Vietnam. This is the culmination of a large effort over more than one year, involving consultations with dozens of conservationists and researchers. We summarise available population data from 107 different sites across Vietnam, both inside and outside protected areas. W...

The genus Macaca includes 23 species assigned into four to seven groups. It exhibits the largest geographic range and represents the most successful example of adaptive radiation of nonhuman primates. However, intrageneric phylogenetic relationships among species remain controversial and have not been resolved so far. In this study, we conducted a...

Mutualistic and antagonistic plant–animal interactions differentially contribute to the maintenance of species diversity in ecological communities. Although both seed dispersal and predation by fruit-eating animals are recognized as important drivers of plant population dynamics, the mechanisms underlying how seed dispersers and predators jointly a...

Habitat restoration for endangered species requires sufficient understanding of species’ feeding ecology. Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) is the world’s rarest primate species, with only one population of ca. 40 individuals living in Bawangling, Hainan, China. Limited habitat is the main factor restricting its population recovery. Previous studie...

Given that 64% of nonhuman primate species are threatened with extinction, science-based conservation action is urgently needed to protect their imperiled populations. However, lack of key information on species due to a research bias can hinder effective conservation actions. We examined taxonomic bias in global primate research and employed phylo...

Birds share lands with humans at a substantial scale and affect crops. Yet, at a global scale, systematic evaluations of human–bird coexistence in croplands are scarce. Here, we compiled and used meta-analysis approaches to synthesize multiple global datasets of ecological and social dimensions to understand this complex coexistence system. Our res...

Religious wildlife release is prevalent worldwide, especially in Asia countries. It is one of the anthropogenic pathways to cause biological invasions. Religious fish release is common on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, yet few studies have assessed the influences of religious fish release on local species. In Yushu, a city on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plat...

Comparative analysis of primate genomes within a phylogenetic context is essential for understanding the evolution of human genetic architecture and primate diversity. We present such a study of 50 primate species spanning 38 genera and 14 families, including 27 genomes first reported here, with many from previously less well represented groups, th...

Planning for the future is a complex skill that is often considered uniquely human. This cognitive ability has never been investigated in wild gibbons (Hylobatidae). Here we evaluated the movement patterns from sleeping trees to out-of-sight breakfast trees in two groups of endangered skywalker gibbons (Hoolock tianxing). These Asian apes inhabit a...

Wild animals may encounter multiple challenges especially food shortage and altered diet composition in their suboptimal ranges. Yet, how the gut microbiome responds to dietary changes remains poorly understood. Prior studies on wild animal microbiomes have typically leaned upon relatively coarse dietary records and individually unresolved fecal sa...

Hylobatids (gibbons and siamangs) are the smallest of the apes distinguished by their coordinated duets, territorial songs, arm-swinging locomotion, and small family group sizes. Although they are the most speciose of the apes boasting twenty species living in eleven countries, ninety-five percent are critically endangered or endangered according t...

Hylobatids (gibbons and siamangs) are the smallest of the apes distinguished by their coordinated duets, territorial songs, arm-swinging locomotion, and small family group sizes. Although they are the most speciose of the apes boasting twenty species living in eleven countries, ninety-five percent are critically endangered or endangered according t...

Hylobatids (gibbons and siamangs) are the smallest of the apes distinguished by their coordinated duets, territorial songs, arm-swinging locomotion, and small family group sizes. Although they are the most speciose of the apes boasting twenty species living in eleven countries, ninety-five percent are critically endangered or endangered according t...

The gut microbiota plays an integral role in the metabolism and immunity of animal hosts, and provides insights into the health and habitat assessment of threatened animals. The skywalker hoolock gibbon (Hoolock tianxing) is a newly described gibbon species, and is considered an endangered species. Here, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to desc...

Introgression is common in speciation and demographic history of animals. The genus Macaca, with 23 species assigned into four to seven species groups, exhibits the largest geographic range and represents the most successful adaptive radiation of nonhuman primates. Here, we conducted phylogenomic analyses of macaques using 16 newly generated and ei...

Finding suitable sleeping sites is highly advantageous but challenging for wild animals. While suitable sleeping sites provide protection against predators and enhance sleep quality, these sites are heterogeneously distributed in space. Thus, animals may generate memories associated with suitable sleeping sites to be able to approach them efficient...

The diet of top predators is vital information needed to determine their ecological function and for their conservation management. However, the elusive habit and low population density of many predators constrains determination of their diets. While the morphological identification of scat contents is the traditional method, DNA metabarcoding has...

Adult males living in a one-male multi-female social group are expected to try to monopolize copulations with resident females to increase reproductive fitness. Gibbons have traditionally been described as living in monogamous groups, with the sole resident adult male assumed to sire all of the group's offspring. Here, we used microsatellite analys...

Gut microbiota influences nutrient metabolism and immunity of animal hosts. Better understanding of the composition and diversity of gut microbiota contributes to conservation and management of threatened animals both in situ and ex situ. In this study, we applied 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to evaluate the composition and diversity of the fe...

Adult male and female coordinated singing occur in diverse animal taxa. Adult male-female social bond advertising and strengthening have been proposed as two important functional hypotheses of coordinated singing. Here we studied these two functions in four groups of cao vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus), a small ape that lives in polygynous family gro...

Biodiversity is declining in part due to destructive and unsustainable human activity. Nature-based tourism, informed by scientific data, has the potential to replace some income generated by unsustainable practices. We observed two groups of Hoolock tianxing gibbons – one exposed to tourists and the other to small research teams – at Gaoligong Nat...

As a top predator, the Eurasian otter ( Lutra lutra) is an indicator of healthy freshwater ecosystems and a flagship species for conservation. Once widespread in China, the species is now distributed mainly in the upper reaches of the great rivers of western China. However, a lack of knowledge on local otter populations continues to hinder their co...

ａｎ ｄｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙ ｉｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ ｒａｎｋｓ ｉｔ ａｓ ｏｎｅ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｋｅｙ ｇｒｏｕｐｓ ｉｎ ｍａｉｎｔａｉｎｉｎｇ ｅｃｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌ ｆｕｎｃｔｉｏｎ． Ｓｉｎｃｅ Ｍｒ． Ｊｏｈｎ Ｒ． Ｒｅｅｖｅｓ ｃｏｎｄｕｃｔｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｆｉｒｓｔ ｍａｍｍａｌｉａｎ ｓｕｒｖｅｙ ｉｎ Ｇｕａｎｇｄｏｎｇ，Ｃｈｉｎａ，ｆｒｏｍ １８２９ ｔｏ １８３４，Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ ｍａｍｍａｌｔａｘｏｎｏｍｉｃ ａｎｄ ｓｙｓｔｅｍａｔｉｃ ｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈｅｓ ｈａｖｅ ｍａｄｅ ｒｅｍａｒｋａｂｌｅ ｐｒｏｇｒｅｓｓ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｐａｓｔ ２００ ｙｅａｒｓ． Ｐｒｅｓｅｎｔｌｙ，ｔｈｅ ｎｕｍｂｅｒ ｏｆ ｍａｍｍａｌ ｓｐｅｃｉｅｓ ｉｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ ｈａｓ ｒｅａｃ...

Scientific research provides essential information for conservation of threatened species. Data deficiency due to insufficient research impedes the design of conservation plans, and research bias may mistakenly direct limited resources to low biodiversity regions or less threatened species. Here, we conducted a systematic review of published papers...

Daily path length can reflect animals’ foraging efforts and offer insights into their foraging strategy, which is essential for implementing effective conservation plans for endangered species. The Cao Vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus) is a small, critically endangered arboreal ape living in polygynous social groups (average group size 6. 3). Research...

Establishing protected areas (PAs) is an essential strategy to reduce biodiversity loss. However, many PAs do not provide adequate protection due to poor funding, inadequate staffing and equipment, and ineffective management. As part of China's recent economic growth, the Chinese government has significantly increased investment in nature reserves...

Objectives Although fermented food use is ubiquitous in humans, the ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to its emergence are unclear. Here we investigated the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates to provide insight into its adaptive function. We hypothesized that...

Reproductive and life-history characteristics, such as age at first reproduction, interbirth interval (IBI), sex ratio of newborns, and infant mortality, are crucial for assessing the population dynamics and survival of threatened species. There are no longitudinal data on the life histories of the threatened northern white-cheeked gibbons (Nomascu...

Phylogenetic relationships within the sinica-group of macaques based on morphological, behavioral, and molecular characteristics have remained controversial. The Nepal population of Assam macaques (Macaca assamensis) (NPAM), the westernmost population of the species, is morphologically distinct but has never been used in phylogenetic analyses. Here...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biaa082.].

Trachypithecus, which currently contains 20 species divided into four groups, is the most speciose and geographically dispersed genus among Asian colobines. Despite several morphological and molecular studies, however, its evolutionary history and phylogeography remain poorly understood. Phayre's langur (Trachypithecus phayrei) is one of the most w...

Aim Species ranges in mountain areas may shift both horizontally and altitudinally, resulting from climate change and anthropogenic impact. Two hypotheses (the abundant centre hypothesis and the contagion hypothesis) have been proposed to account for patterns of horizontal range contraction. However, undulating topograph causes a mosaic of unsuitab...

Gibbons’ loud morning songs are hypothesized to function in territorial defense. To efficiently defend their territory, gibbons could sing more frequently along the territory boundary. Alternatively, singing may advertise occupancy of a territory, regardless of the singer’s location. Further, gibbons should choose singing sites that facilitate soun...

Threats to biodiversity are well documented. However, to effectively conserve species and their habitats, we need to know which conservation interventions do (or do not) work. Evidence-based conservation evaluates interventions within a scientific framework. The Conservation Evidence project has summarized thousands of studies testing conservation...

Studies on behavioral flexibility in response to habitat differences and degradation are crucial for developing conservation strategies for endangered species. Trachypithecus species inhabit various habitats and display different patterns of strata use; however, the effect of habitat structure on strata use remains poorly studied. Here, we investig...

With 60% of all primate species now threatened with extinction and many species only persisting in small populations in forest fragments, conservation action is urgently needed. But what type of action? Here we argue that restoration of primate habitat will be an essential component of strategies aimed at conserving primates and preventing the exti...

The study of vocal communication in nonhuman primates, especially apes, offers critical insight into the origins of human language. Although human language represents a highly derived and complex form of communication, researchers have found that the organization of language follows a series of common statistical patterns, known as ‘linguistic laws...

Positional behavior and its relationship with substrate are crucial to understand animal morphological and behavioral adaptation, and can contribute to habitat conservation of endangered species. Colobine monkeys show diverse inter- and intra-species variations in positional behavior. Although the effects of substrate type on positional behavior ar...

Research is a highly competitive profession where evaluation plays a central role; journals are ranked and individuals are evaluated based on their publication number, the number of times they are cited and their h-index. Yet such evaluations are often done in inappropriate ways that are damaging to individual careers, particularly for young schola...

Food abundance and climatic factors can significantly affect the behavior of animals and constrain their activity budgets. The population of western black crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor) in Mt. Wuliang lives in montane forest and is close to the northern extreme of the distribution for gibbons (Hylobatidae). Their habitats show remarkable seaso...

Although many species are threatened by hunting or resource extraction from indigenous human communities, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of local communities has the potential to support management and conservation of natural resources and wildlife. The newly described skywalker hoolock gibbon (Hoolock tianxing) is found on the border of Ch...

Although conventional wisdom considers knowledge of threatened species' ecology and status essential for conservation , few studies demonstrate this in a quantitative way across many species and within the same political entity. Here, we evaluated the impacts of scientific research against conservation interventions (including funding) and species-...

The cao vit gibbon Nomascus nasutus , also known as eastern black crested gibbon, is categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and was considered one of the world's 25 most threatened primates. The only known population occurs along the border between China and Viet Nam. Accurate information on population size and dynamics is critic...

Considering the high energetic costs of maintaining constant body temperature, mammals must adjust their thermoregulatory behaviors in response to cold temperatures. Although primate daytime thermoregulation is relatively well studied, there is limited research in relation to nighttime strategies. To investigate how Skywalker hoolock gibbons (Hoolo...

According to the sexual selection hypothesis, infanticide during resident male replacement is an adaptive strategy that has evolved because the killing of unweaned offspring sired by previous males shortens the inter-birth intervals of the mothers whose infants are targeted and thereby increases the reproductive fitness of the perpetrator. To test...

China is facing an unprecedented set of challenges in balancing the effects of economic development and global climate change with environmental protection and maintaining biodiversity. Although positive steps have been undertaken to remedy this situation, currently 80% of China’s 25 extant primate species are threatened, 15–18 species have populat...

Gibbons are generally reported to live in small socially monogamous family groups in which both sexes disperse when they reach maturity. For the first time, we documented the dispersal pattern in a population of gibbons living in stable polygynous groups (Nomascus concolor) integrating 16 years' field observation and genetic information from fecal...

Gibbons in China represent the northernmost margin of present day gibbon species distribution (around N25°). Compared to tropical habitats, northern gibbon habitats are characterized by low temperatures and remarkable seasonal variation in fruit abundance. How gibbons adapt to their cold and seasonal habitats and what ecological factors affect thei...

China supports the richest non-human primate diversity in the northern hemisphere, providing an excellent opportunity for Chinese primatologists to take a leading role in advancing the study of primatology. Primatology in China began to flourish after 1979. To date, Chinese primatologists have published more than 1000 papers in journals indexed by...