The effects of social separation, including vocalization, have been studied for a very long time in non-human primates under laboratory conditions. As part of the long-term research on the vocal behaviour of Nomascus gibbons in zoos, this study provides the first record of calls of the southern yellow-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus gabriellae) in response to involuntary separation. Our study revealed that calls were also emitted by an infant (aged 1 year 8 months), and that the acoustic structure of the infant's calls was similar to that of older individuals' calls. Separation-induced calls seem to have a shorter developmental convergence than vocalizations with a stable pattern (which are specific for species and sex). The acoustic structure of the calls reported here comprised simple syllables, and differed from the sex- and species-specific vocal patterns of this species. Our findings demonstrate a novel paradigm in this genus, and provide evidence of the ability of gibbons to express distress when socially separated.

Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Kamýcká 129 165 00 Praha Suchdol Czech Republic

Department of Ethology Institute of Animal Science Praha Uhříněves 104 01 Czech Republic

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