The doucs or douc langurs make up the
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Pygathrix''. They are
colobine Old World monkey
Old World monkeys are primates in the family Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons (genus '' Papio''), red colobus (genus '' Piliocolob ...
s, native to
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, consisting of 3 species:
red-shanked douc,
black-shanked douc, and
gray-shanked douc.
Description
The doucs are
colobine Old World monkey
Old World monkeys are primates in the family Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons (genus '' Papio''), red colobus (genus '' Piliocolob ...
s, which make up the
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Pygathrix''. They are native to
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
.
Classification
Even though they are known as "douc
langurs", they are in fact more closely related to the
proboscis monkey and
snub-nosed monkeys than to any of the
langurs. They are part of the subfamily
Colobinae
The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a family (biology), subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genus, genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. So ...
of the family
Cercopithecidae
Old World monkeys are primates in the family (biology), family Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genus, genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons (genus ''Papio''), red colo ...
.
Appearance
Doucs have a distinct appearance. The red-shanked douc characteristically has bright maroon legs and reddish patches around the eyes. In contrast, the grey-shanked douc is less vibrant, with speckled grey legs and orange markings on the face. Both have dappled grey bodies, black hands and feet and white cheeks, although the cheek hairs of the red-shanked douc are much longer. The black-shanked douc has black legs. Their long hind limbs and tail allow these monkeys to be very agile in their treetop habitat.
Behavior
They live in small family groups headed by one adult male. A single group may have several adult females, and many children. Young males unaffiliated with a family group often make their own troops. Females usually bear a single offspring at a time, which is suckled for about a year.
[Felix, Dr. Jiri. "Animals of Asia". London: Hamlyn Publishing Group, 1983.]
References
Sources
*
External links
* ARKive
images and movies of the black-shanked douc ''(Pygathrix nigripes)''Primate Info Net ''Pygathrix'' Factsheets
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1140604
Taxa named by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire