Ape an old historian (6)

I believe the answer is:

gibbon

I believe this clue is a double definition.

'ape' is the first definition.
(I know that gibbon is a type of lesser ape)

'an old historian' is the second definition.
(I know this)

(Other definitions for gibbon that I've seen before include "A historian; SE Asian forest creature" , "Member of the ape family" , "author of Decline and Fall, etc" , "an eighteenth-century author" , "Primate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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