HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Trachypithecus'' (derived from Greek , meaning "rough" and , meaning "monkey") is a genus of
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 containing species known as lutungs, langurs, or leaf monkeys. Their range is much of
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 ...
(northeast
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, southern
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
,
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
,
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
, and
Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
). The name "lutung" comes from the
Sundanese language Sundanese ( ; , Sundanese script: , ) is an Austronesian language spoken in Java, primarily by the Sundanese. It has approximately 32 million native speakers in the western third of Java; they represent about 15% of Indonesia's total pop ...
meaning "blackness", ultimately from
Proto-Austronesian Proto-Austronesian (commonly abbreviated as PAN or PAn) is a proto-language. It is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. Proto-Austronesian is assumed to have begun to diversify in ...
*''luCuƋ'' (which originally referred to the Formosan rock macaque); it is preferred in one paper because the authors wanted the name langurs to only refer to monkeys in the genus ''
Semnopithecus ''Semnopithecus'' is a genus of Old World monkeys native to the Indian subcontinent, with all species with the exception of two being commonly known as gray langurs. Traditionally only the species ''Semnopithecus entellus'' was recognized, but si ...
'', although some "lutungs" are now "langurs" again.


Evolution

Genetic analysis indicates that the ancestors of the modern species of lutung first differentiated from one another a little over 3 million years ago, during the late
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
, presumably driven by habitat changes during the
Ice Ages An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and Gre ...
. The oldest fossils clearly identified as belonging to the genus date from the middle
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
of
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
and
Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
; later fossils are also known from Thailand, Java, and Sumatra. The closest living relatives of the lutungs are probably either the
gray langur ''Semnopithecus'' is a genus of Old World monkeys native to the Indian subcontinent, with all species with the exception of two being commonly known as gray langurs. Traditionally only the species ''Semnopithecus entellus'' was recognized, but si ...
s or the surilis, although the exact relationships remain unclear, possibly due to hybridisation between these genera during the course of their recent evolutionary history.


Taxonomy

As of 2005, the authors of ''
Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and Bibliographic database, bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, ...
'' recognize the following ''Trachypithecus'' species: * Genus ''
Semnopithecus ''Semnopithecus'' is a genus of Old World monkeys native to the Indian subcontinent, with all species with the exception of two being commonly known as gray langurs. Traditionally only the species ''Semnopithecus entellus'' was recognized, but si ...
'' ** formerly ''T. vetulus'' group - moved into genus ''Semnopithecus'' in most recent classifications *** Purple-faced langur, '' Semnopithecus vetulus'' *** Nilgiri langur, ''
Semnopithecus johnii The Nilgiri langur (''Semnopithecus johnii'') is an Asian langur of the Old World monkey. It has glossy, black fur and an orangey-golden brown, hair-like mane on its head. Females have a white patch of fur on the inner thigh. It typically lives ...
'' * Genus ''Trachypithecus'' ** ''T. cristatus'' group ***
Javan lutung The East Javan langur (''Trachypithecus auratus''), also known as the ebony lutung, Javan langur or Javan lutung, is an Old World monkey from the Colobinae subfamily. It is most commonly glossy black with a brownish tinge to its legs, sides, and ...
, ''Trachypithecus auratus'' *** " Silvery lutung", silvery langur, etc.: ''Trachypithecus cristatus'', but also used for ''T. germaini'' *** Indochinese lutung or Germain's langur, ''Trachypithecus germaini'' *** Tenasserim lutung, ''Trachypithecus barbei'' ** ''T. obscurus'' group *** Dusky leaf monkey, ''Trachypithecus obscurus'' ***
Phayre's leaf monkey Phayre's leaf monkey (''Trachypithecus phayrei''), also known as Phayre's langur, is a species of Old World monkey native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, namely India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Populations from further east are now thought to b ...
, ''Trachypithecus phayrei'' ** ''T. pileatus'' group ***
Capped langur The capped langur (''Trachypithecus pileatus'') is a primate species in the family Cercopithecidae native to subtropical and tropical dry forests in northeast India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. It is arboreal and feeds on 43 plant species. ...
, ''Trachypithecus pileatus'' *** Shortridge's langur, ''Trachypithecus shortridgei'' ***
Gee's golden langur Gee's golden langur (''Trachypithecus geei''), also known as simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of Western Assam, India and the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan. Long considered sacre ...
, ''Trachypithecus geei'' ** ''T. francoisi'' group *** Francois' langur, ''Trachypithecus francoisi'' *** Hatinh langur, ''Trachypithecus hatinhensis'' *** "
White-headed langur The white-headed langur (''Trachypithecus leucocephalus'') is a Critically Endangered species of langur endemic to Guangxi, China. Taxonomy It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Cat Ba langur (''T. poliocephalus''), which is now tho ...
", ''Trachypithecus poliocephalus'' *** Laotian langur, ''Trachypithecus laotum'' *** Delacour's langur, ''Trachypithecus delacouri'' *** Indochinese black langur, ''Trachypithecus ebenus'' Since then, the ''T. vetulus'' group (the purple-faced langur and the Nilgiri langur) have been moved the genus ''
Semnopithecus ''Semnopithecus'' is a genus of Old World monkeys native to the Indian subcontinent, with all species with the exception of two being commonly known as gray langurs. Traditionally only the species ''Semnopithecus entellus'' was recognized, but si ...
'' based on DNA and other evidence. In 2008, Roos ''et al.'' described the Malay Peninsula form of the silvery lutung as a separate subspecies and subsequently it has been elevated to a separate species within the ''T. cristatus'' group as the Selangor silvered langur, ''T. selangorensis''. Roos ''et al.'' also elevated the West Javan Langur, ''Trachypithecus mauritius'', and Annamese Langur, ''Trachypithecus margarita'', to species status (formerly subspecies of ''T. auratus'' and ''T. germaini'', respectively). In 2020, Roos ''et al.'' discovered a new species, Popa langur (''T. popa''), which is found only in Myanmar. Lastly, the
White-headed langur The white-headed langur (''Trachypithecus leucocephalus'') is a Critically Endangered species of langur endemic to Guangxi, China. Taxonomy It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Cat Ba langur (''T. poliocephalus''), which is now tho ...
(''T. leucocephalus''), previously thought to be a subspecies of the Francois langur (''T. Francois'') or Cat Ba langur (''T. poliocephalus''), is currently recognized as a distinct species by
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...
assessors and the
American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence ...
, based on a 2007 paper by Groves. This leaves the current understanding of the genus ''Trachypithecus'' to be:


Physical description

Lutungs have a rather slim build with a long tail. The fur color varies, depending on the species, from black and grey to orange yellow. Many species have skin designs and a brighter lower surface, the hair on the head is often compared to a hood. Their arms are very short in comparison to the feet and their thumbs are also somewhat shorter. The inner surfaces of the hands and feet are hairless so that their fur does not get caught when reaching into branches. These animals reach a length of 40 to 80 cm and a weight of 5 to 15 kg, with males generally larger than females. A bulge over the eyes and other details, primarily in the head, differentiate it from the
surili ''Presbytis'' is a genus of Old World monkeys also known as langurs, leaf monkeys, or surilis. Members of the genus live in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, on Sumatra, Borneo, Java and smaller nearby islands. Description Surilis are rather small, s ...
s.


Habitat and distribution

Lutungs live in the forests, often preferring rain forests, although occasionally they are also found in secluded mountain forests. Lutungs are found in South-east Asia and parts of South Asia from India in the west to China in the east.


Behaviour

They spend the largest part of the day in the trees, where they crawl along the branches on all fours, although they can also jump well from tree to tree. They are diurnal, although more active in the early mornings and the afternoon. They live in groups of five to 20 animals, mostly in
harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...
s, i.e. a single male with several females. Young males must leave their birth group when fully mature, often forming bachelor groups. If a new male takes over a harem, defeating and scaring off the harem leader, he often kills the children of the group. Lutungs are territorial, with loud shouting to defend their territories from other lutung interlopers, resorting to force if the outsiders are not scared off. They have a common repertoire of sounds with which they warn group members. Also, mutual grooming plays an important role. Lutungs are
herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...
s, primarily eating leaves, fruits, and buds. To digest the tough leaves, they developed a multichambered stomach.


Reproduction

Rarely twins, a typical single birth comes after a seven-month gestation period. Newborns usually have a golden-yellow fur. The mother shares responsibilities of rearing the young with the other females ("aunties") of the harem. They hand the young around, play with it, carry it, and cuddle it, while the mother searches for food. If the mother dies, another female adopts the young animal. Lutungs are weaned in the latter half of their first year, and reach full maturity at 4 to 5 years. The life expectancy is estimated at 20 years.


References


Sources

*


External links


Primate Info Net ''Trachypithecus'' factsheets
{{Authority control Primate genera Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach Taxa described in 1862