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orangutans

  • plural
    of orangutan.
    orangutan
    noun
    either of two species of long-armed, arboreal great ape, the only extant members of the subfamily Ponginae, inhabiting Borneo (Pongo pygmaeus ) and Sumatra (P. abelii ): both species, including all three of the Bornean subspecies, are endangered.

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Chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans all produce laughter, but scientists have long wondered how those vocalizations changed over millions of years and whether they could reveal anything about the origins of human language.

From Science Daily Jul. 2, 2026

The sample included gorillas, orangutans, macaques, colobus monkeys, fossil apes and more.

From Science Daily Jun. 8, 2026

Conservationists have lobbied for a moratorium on development in Batang Toru, where tapanuli orangutans suffered first habitat loss and then the flood disaster.

From Barron's Feb. 19, 2026

In October, orangutan mother Kalim had a baby offspring from father Isim, raising the number of Bornean orangutans at the zoo to seven.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 18, 2025

I am a great ape, and you are a great ape, and so are chimpanzees and orangutans and bonobos, all of us distant and distrustful cousins.

From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate