--- description: A team of researchers named a newly-discovered species of primates after the famous fictional clan at the center of the Star Wars franchise title: This Primate Species Was Named After Luke Skywalker From 'Star Wars' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b129acc525e902d/6988b54d196cf42da003e75e/adult-female-hoolock-tianxing-c-fan-pengfei.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Newly-Discovered Primate Species Was Named After Luke Skywalker From _Star Wars_  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jan 12, 2017 3:00 PM CUT  Adult female Skywalker hoolock gibbon. Adult female Skywalker hoolock gibbon.Fan Peng-Fei/ZSL  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jan 12, 2017 3:00 PM CUT A team of researchers named a newly-discovered species of primates in eastern Myanmar and southwestern China after the famous fictional clan at the center of the _Star Wars_ franchise. Scientists published their discovery of the skywalker hoolock gibbon in the _American Journal of Primatology_ this week after new research distinguished the animal from closely-related gibbons. Researchers say around 200 of the species live in China. More live in a few surrounding countries, but the numbers have been difficult to count elsewhere. > [](https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/819107402175782912) Researchers named the new species Skywalker in tribute to _Star Wars_ hero Luke Skywalker and his relatives. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4632780/star-wars-skywalker-hoolock-gibbon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4632780/star-wars-skywalker-hoolock-gibbon/"},"headline":"This Newly-Discovered Primate Species Was Named After Luke Skywalker From Star Wars","datePublished":"2017-01-12T15:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:41:44.482Z","description":"Researchers say around 200 of the species live in China","url":"https://time.com/4632780/star-wars-skywalker-hoolock-gibbon/","keywords":["animals","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b129acc525e902d/6988b54d196cf42da003e75e/adult-female-hoolock-tianxing-c-fan-pengfei.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b129acc525e902d/6988b54d196cf42da003e75e/adult-female-hoolock-tianxing-c-fan-pengfei.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"adult-female-hoolock-tianxing-c-fan-pengfei","caption":"Adult female Skywalker hoolock gibbon.","creditText":"Fan Peng-Fei/ZSL","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4632780/star-wars-skywalker-hoolock-gibbon/","name":"This Newly-Discovered Primate Species Was Named After Luke Skywalker From Star Wars"}}]}] ```