P. gaboni was given its name in reference to Gabon, where the parasite was discovered in two wild-borne chimpanzees kept as pets in villages in that country.

[1] In 2009, Ollomo et al. published the complete mitochondrial genome of Plasmodium gaboni, which was not yet named at the time.

It has been proposed that Plasmodium gaboni diverged from the P falciparum/P reichenowi lineage about 21 million years ago, leading to the conclusion that the ancestor of this parasite clade could have been already present in hominid ancestors.

[2] Plasmodium gaboni can be found in western Africa.

[1] Due to the close proximity between Plasmodium gaboni and the most virulent agent of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, it has been considered the possibility of transfer risk of this species to humans.