Phayre's Leaf Monkey
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Phayre's leaf monkey (''Trachypithecus phayrei''), also known as Phayre's langur, is a species of
lutung The lutungs, langurs, or leaf monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys in the genus ''Trachypithecus'' (derived from Greek , meaning "rough" and , meaning "monkey"). Their range is much of Southeast Asia (northeast India, Vietnam, southern Chin ...
native to South and
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, namely
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, and
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. Populations from further east are now thought to belong to other species. It is listed as
Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
on the
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 the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
and is threatened by hunting and
loss of habitat Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
. The species epithet commemorates
Arthur Purves Phayre Sir Arthur Purves Phayre (7 May 1812 – 14 December 1885) was a career British Indian Army officer who was the first Commissioner of British Burma, 1862–1867, Governor of Mauritius, 1874–1878, and author. His brother, Sir Robert Phayre (18 ...
.


Taxonomy

The
scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Presbytis phayrei'' was used by
Edward Blyth Edward Blyth (23 December 1810 – 27 December 1873) was an English zoologist who worked for most of his life in India as a curator of zoology at the museum of the Asiatic Society of India in Calcutta. Blyth was born in London in 1810. In 1841 ...
in 1847 for two young individuals captured alive in the
Arakan Mountains The Arakan Mountains ( my, ရခိုင်ရိုးမ), also known as the Rakhine Yoma, are a mountain range in western Myanmar, between the coast of Rakhine State and the Central Myanmar Basin, in which flows the Irrawaddy River. It is th ...
in Myanmar. Phayre's langur is one of the most widespread members of the genus, but its actual distribution and intraspecific taxonomy remain controversial. Previously, three subspecies were recognized, namely ''T. p. crepusculus'', ''T. p. phayrei'' and ''T. p. shanicus''. Three separate species ''T. phayrei'', ''T. melamera'' (formerly ''T. p. shanicus''), and '' T. popa sp. nov.'' have been proposed based on
mitochondrial genome Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
s. Currently, the name Phayre’s leaf monkey refers to ''T. phayrei,'' residing in forests of East Bengal, Northeast India and western Myanmar, specifically, areas to the west of the
Chindwin , , image = Homalin aerial.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Chindwin at Homalin. The smaller, meandering Uyu River can be seen joining the Chindwin. , map = Irrawaddyrivermap.jpg , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption ...
and
Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Origi ...
s.


Characteristics

Phayre’s langur is characterized by white coloration around the
ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...
, mouth, and eye area. The broad ring-shaped patches around the eyes resemble spectacles, contributing to the local name of “''Chasma bandor''” in Bengali, or spectacled monkey. The white fur is especially contrasting with the overall deep bluish-brown fur all over its body with darker shades at the head, below the elbows, and at the end of the tail. There is a presence of a
sagittal crest A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. The presence of this ridge of bone indicates that there are exceptiona ...
on the heads of both adult males and females, giving it a triangular shape. The infants have a straw-colored natal coat, making it easily distinguishable in a group. The average head-body length ranges from in males and in females. The tail is usually longer than its body, with an average of for males and , for females. In comparison to ''T. melamera'' and ''T. popa'', it has a shorter tail length. The average mass of Phayre’s langur is observed to be around for males and for males. In field studies males and females are differentiated through the shape of the patches around the eyes. Female have cone-shaped white patches bending in towards the nose while males have a rounder shape. This shape difference causes a slightly wider gap in males than in females. Like most
Old World monkey Old World monkey is the common English name for a family of primates known taxonomically as the Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons ...
s, it has the dental formula of Distinctive to other colobines Phayre’s langur show craniodental adaptations such as medially positioned rows of teeth and stronger
masseter In human anatomy, the masseter is one of the muscles of mastication. Found only in mammals, it is particularly powerful in herbivores to facilitate chewing of plant matter. The most obvious muscle of mastication is the masseter muscle, since it ...
pterygoid muscles for seed-eating.


Distribution and habitat

Pharye’s langur is found in
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
,
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
, and
evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
forests of North-East India, Eastern Bangladesh, and Western Myanmar. It can also be seen residing in secondary forests such as bamboo clusters and rubber plantations. Tree species with large canopies like '' Artocarpus chama'', ''
Artocarpus lacucha ''Artocarpus lacucha'', also known as monkey jack or monkey fruit, is a tropical evergreen tree species of the family Moraceae. It is distributed throughout the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The tree is valued for its wood; its fruit ...
'', ''
Ficus racemosa ''Ficus racemosa'', the cluster fig, red river fig or gular, is a species of plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Australia and tropical Asia. It is a fast-growing plant with large, very rough leaves, usually attaining the size of a lar ...
'', ''Trophis aspera'', ''
Mangifera indica ''Mangifera indica'', commonly known as mango, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a large fruit tree, capable of growing to a height of . There are two distinct genetic populations in modern mangoesthe "Indian type ...
'', and ''Grewia nervosa'', in Bangladesh, are used for resting in their shade. In India, the most common roosting trees range from heights of and have an extensive canopy, e.g., ''
Ficus hispida ''Ficus hispida'' also known as the opposite leaf Fig is a small but well distributed species of tropical Ficus, fig tree. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate individuals. It occurs in many parts of Asia and as far south e ...
'' and ''
Triadica sebifera ''Triadica sebifera'' is a tree native to eastern China. It is commonly called Chinese tallow, Chinese tallowtree, Florida aspen, chicken tree, gray popcorn tree, or candleberry tree. The seeds (as well as from those of '' Triadica cochinchine ...
'' in Mizoram. Currently, a total of 1200 individual langurs have been recorded in India and 376 individuals in Bangladesh, 288 of which resided in the northeastern forests of Bangladesh.


Behavior and ecology


Group structure

The Phayre’s langur usually forms multi-male and multi-female with a presence of a dominant male alpha in the group. All-male groups, one-male groups, and one-female groups have also been observed though, less common. A high level of territoriality is seen within the species and between groups. The groups tend to maintain occupancy in their
home range A home range is the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basis. It is related to the concept of an animal's territory which is the area that is actively defended. The concept of a home range was introduced by W. H. Burt in 1943. He ...
, showing
philopatry Philopatry is the tendency of an organism to stay in or habitually return to a particular area. The causes of philopatry are numerous, but natal philopatry, where animals return to their birthplace to breed, may be the most common. The term derives ...
. Foraging is done by maintaining groups throughout different ranges.  While foraging, groups tend to avoid ranging areas of neighboring groups suggesting the formation of borders between them, agonistic interactions are observed in places of overlapping borders. Female dispersal is also observed between the groups, females that leave the group tend to obtain alpha rank in the new group. Linear dominance is seen in females, where rank has a linear relationship with age. Males on reaching maturation show some dispersal, they either form new multi-male groups or return to their natal group. For males, age and rank dominance also show a linear relationship though, the ranks can change depending on the resource-holding potential, which is shown to decrease in aging monkeys.


Reproduction

Female Phayre’s langurs are pregnant by an average age of 5.3 years with an average gestation period of 205 days. The females show promiscuous behavior, studies do show a preference for more experienced males, usually of higher dominance.
Polygynous Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...
relationships are common, where males offer protection to copulated females. Females usually nurse their infants on average 22 months with weaning at around 19–21 months. The natal coat starts to become darker 26 weeks after birth.


Communication

Vocalization is observed in both males and females. Based on observations in the wild, a loud “kah-kah-kah” is used to sound alarm in the troop, while in the presence of a predator a softer “whoo” call is used. The dominant male alpha uses the “cheng-kong” sound to assemble the group. Additionally, vocalization essential is for maintaining contact with troop members while foraging. In agonistic interactions, barking sounds such as “ngre-go, ngre-go” are used to maintain their group's territory.


Activity budget

The Phayre’s Leaf Monkey is diurnal and arboreal. The average life span of it being 20–30 years, in the wild, and an average of 28.3 in captivity. A study conducted in the
Satchari National Park Satchari National Park ( bn, সাতছড়ি) is a national park in Habiganj District, Bangladesh. After the 1974 Wild Life Preservation Act, in 2005 Satchari National Park was built on of land. Literally 'Satchari' in Bengali means 'Sev ...
, Bangladesh, found on average the Phayre’s leaf Monkey spends, most of its time foraging and feeding (40.7%), the rest is spent traveling (31.8%), resting (18.3%), grooming (7.8%) and playing (1.4%). It is seen that males and juveniles tend to spend more time moving than adult females, who also have the highest percentage of resting among them. It is noticed that the activity patterns have variations based on habitats, seasons, and food availability, for example, food shortages lead to increased travel time. The variation in caloric content of different foods have shown to affect the energy budgets, i.e., poor quality food leads to higher feeding distribution to maintain the caloric requirements.


Diet

The Phayre’s leaf monkey is a folivore. It feeds on leaves, shoots, seeds, flowers, gum, and fleshy parts of fruits. The diet varies between seasons and different regions, showing adaptation to the local flora. In
Dampa Tiger Reserve Dampa Tiger Reserve or Dampha Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve of western Mizoram, India. It covers an area of about in the Lushai Hills at an altitude range of . It was declared a tiger reserve in 1994 and is part of Project Tiger. The tropic ...
, the Phayre’s langurs feeds on ''
Citrus grandis The pomelo ( ), ''Citrus maxima'', is the largest citrus fruit from the family Rutaceae and the principal ancestor of the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid, citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefru ...
'', ''
Gmelina arborea ''Gmelina arborea'', (in English beechwood, gmelina, goomar teak, Kashmir tree, Malay beechwood, white teak, yamane ), locally known as gamhar, is a fast-growing deciduous tree in the family Lamiaceae. Distribution and habitat ''Gmelina arborea ...
'', '' Ficus maclellendii'', ''Buetneria pilosa'', with a preference towards bamboos such as '' Musa ornata'', ''
Melocanna baccifera ''Melocanna baccifera'' is one of two bamboo species belonging to the ''Melocanna'' genus. It grows up to 10–25 m tall. It is native to Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, and Thailand. Habit It is tall, small-culmed bamboo with greenish young culms an ...
'' and '' Dendrocalamus longispathus'' during summer. Plant parts with less fiber and high proteins and sugars such as young leaves are usually preferred while foraging. In
Satchari National Park Satchari National Park ( bn, সাতছড়ি) is a national park in Habiganj District, Bangladesh. After the 1974 Wild Life Preservation Act, in 2005 Satchari National Park was built on of land. Literally 'Satchari' in Bengali means 'Sev ...
in Bangladesh, they feed primarily on ''
Ficus hispida ''Ficus hispida'' also known as the opposite leaf Fig is a small but well distributed species of tropical Ficus, fig tree. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate individuals. It occurs in many parts of Asia and as far south e ...
'', ''
Albizia chinensis ''Albizia chinensis'' is a species of legume in the genus ''Albizia'', native to south and Southeast asia, from India to China and Indonesia. The genus is named after the Italian nobleman Filippo degli Albizzi, belonging to the famous Florenti ...
'', and ''
Vachellia nilotica ''Vachellia nilotica'', more commonly known as ''Acacia nilotica'', and by the vernacular names of gum arabic tree, babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa, the Mid ...
''. The high bamboo consumption in their diets is attributed to the abundance of this plant in North-East India because of its invasive nature. Phayre’s langurs living in local rubber plantations in Mizoram majorly consume leaves of ''
Hevea brasiliensis ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large fami ...
'' showing that diet is affected by the plant diversity in its home range. In
Tripura, India Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...
, it mainly feeds on leaves of ''
Albizia procera ''Albizia procera'', commonly known as white siris or karoi tree, is a species of large tree found natively in southeast Asia and India. It is most commonly found in open forests, but may also be found on the margins of rain forests and in monsoo ...
'', ''
Albizzia lebbek ''Albizia lebbeck'' is a species of ''Albizia'', native to Indomalaya, New Guinea and Northern AustraliaUSDA (1994) and widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and subtropical regions. English names for it include Sirisa, Siris, lebbe ...
'' and ''A. stipulata'', ''
Melocanna bambusoides ''Melocanna baccifera'' is one of two bamboo species belonging to the ''Melocanna'' genus. It grows up to 10–25 m tall. It is native to Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, and Thailand. Habit It is tall, small-culmed bamboo with greenish young culms an ...
'', ''
Macaranga denticulata ''Macaranga denticulata''de Candolle AP (1866) ''Prodr.'' 15(2): 1000. is a species of Asian small trees in the family Euphorbiaceae and tribe Acalypheae, found especially in secondary tropical forests. No subspecies are listed in the Catalogue ...
'', ''
Callicarpa arborea ''Callicarpa'' (beautyberry) is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the family Lamiaceae.Heywood, V.H., Brummitt, R.K., Culham, A. & Seberg, O. 2007: Flowering Plant Families of the World. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. They are native to east a ...
'', ''
Dillenia pentagyna A small tree with tortuous twigs, ''Dillenia pentagyna'' is a member of the family Dilleniaceae, and is found from Sulawesi to South-Central China to India and Sri Lanka. Material from the tree has some minor uses. Description A tree some 6-15m ...
'', ''
Litsea ''Litsea'' is a genus of evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes a large number of accepted species in tropical and subtropical areas of North America and Asia. Characteristics They a ...
'' sp., ''
Mikania scandens ''Mikania scandens'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Its common names include climbing hempvine, climbing hempweed, and louse-plaster. It is native to the eastern and central United States, with its distribution extendin ...
'', ''
Gmelina arborea ''Gmelina arborea'', (in English beechwood, gmelina, goomar teak, Kashmir tree, Malay beechwood, white teak, yamane ), locally known as gamhar, is a fast-growing deciduous tree in the family Lamiaceae. Distribution and habitat ''Gmelina arborea ...
'', '' Artocarpus chaplasha'', '' Syzygium fruticosum'', ''
Ficus racemosa ''Ficus racemosa'', the cluster fig, red river fig or gular, is a species of plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Australia and tropical Asia. It is a fast-growing plant with large, very rough leaves, usually attaining the size of a lar ...
'', ''
Ficus hispida ''Ficus hispida'' also known as the opposite leaf Fig is a small but well distributed species of tropical Ficus, fig tree. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate individuals. It occurs in many parts of Asia and as far south e ...
'', ''
Ficus indica ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...
'' and ''F. fistulosa''.


Conservation

The
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 the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
has deemed the population of Phayre’s langur to be decreasing. The recent reclassification of Phayre’s langur has led to the underestimation of the status of the decline in the specie’s population. It is also listed in the
CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...
Appendix II CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...
, to protect its illegal poaching and trading locally. The major threats to Phayre’s langur are habitat destruction, fragmentation, logging, roadkill,
ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...
, electrocution and hunting. In India, organizations like the Wildlife Trust of India have employed wildlife staff trained in anti-poaching tactics to work in forests, and locals have also been involved. In both India and Bangladesh, Pharye’s langur is protected through national and local legislation and through implementation of international conservation laws and policies, i.e., the
Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India had only five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act established scheduled pr ...
, in India and Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2012, in Bangladesh . The ‘'' jhooming''‘, a form of
shifting cultivation Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...
practiced by tribes in India, led to concerns over reducing forestland for the Phayre’s langur population, but a study showed that they adapted to the local practice. The regenerating
secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...
s through ‘''jhooming''‘ provide a habitat for the langurs when primary forests are unsuitable to stay in due to anthropogenic factors.


References


External links


Image at ADW
{{Taxonbar, from=Q692268
Phayre's leaf monkey Phayre's leaf monkey (''Trachypithecus phayrei''), also known as Phayre's langur, is a species of lutung native to South and Southeast Asia, namely India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Populations from further east are now thought to belong to other s ...
Primates of Southeast Asia Mammals of Bangladesh Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of India Endangered fauna of Asia
Phayre's leaf monkey Phayre's leaf monkey (''Trachypithecus phayrei''), also known as Phayre's langur, is a species of lutung native to South and Southeast Asia, namely India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Populations from further east are now thought to belong to other s ...
Phayre's leaf monkey Phayre's leaf monkey (''Trachypithecus phayrei''), also known as Phayre's langur, is a species of lutung native to South and Southeast Asia, namely India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Populations from further east are now thought to belong to other s ...
Symbols of Tripura