Lutung

The lutungs, langurs, or leaf monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys in the genus Trachypithecus (derived from Greek τραχύς, trachýs meaning "rough" and πίθηκος, píthekos meaning "monkey"). Their range is much of Southeast Asia (northeast India, southern China, Borneo, Thailand, Java, and Bali).

Lutungs
Dusky leaf monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Cercopithecidae
Subfamily: Colobinae
Genus: Trachypithecus
Reichenbach, 1862
Type species
Trachypithecus auratus
Horsfield, 1823
(= Cercopithecus auratus É. Geoffroy, 1812)
Species

16, see text

The name "lutung" comes from the Sundanese language and means "blackness"; it is preferred in one paper because the authors wanted the name langurs to only refer to monkeys in the genus Semnopithecus,[1] although some "luntungs" are now "langurs" again.[2][3][4]

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 surilis.

Francois' langur (Trachypithecus francoisi)

Habitat and behaviour

Lutungs live in the forests, often preferring rain forests, although occasionally they are also found in secluded mountain forests. 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 harems, 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 herbivores, 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.

Species
Nilgiri langur, formerly classified within the genus Trachypithecus but since moved to the genus Semnopithecus

As of 2005, the authors of Mammal Species of the World recognize the following Trachypithecus species:[5]

Since then, the T. vetulus group (the purple-faced langur and the Nilgiri langur) have been moved the genus Semnopithecus based on DNA and other evidence.[2][7][8][9][10][11]

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.[7][12] 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).[7][12] In 2020, Roos et al. discovered a new species, Popa langur (T. popa), which is found only in Myanmar.[13]

This leaves the current understanding of the genus Trachypithecus to be:

Lutung or Spectacled Leaf Monkey seen searching for leaves early in the morning in SK Taman Rakan, Kajang in Malaysia.


Evolution
Trachypithecus cristatus robustus skull

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 various species alive today then diverged during the Pleistocene, presumably driven by habitat changes during the Ice Ages.[14] The oldest fossils clearly identified as belonging to the genus date from the middle Pleistocene of Vietnam and Laos; later fossils are also known from Thailand, Java, and Sumatra. The closest living relatives of the lutungs are probably either the gray langurs or the surilis, although the exact relationships remain unclear, possibly due to hybridisation between these genera during the course of their recent evolutionary history.[1]

Trivia

The city Luodong in Taiwan is named after this monkey species.

A lutung features in the Sundanese folktale Lutung Kasarung ("The lost lutung"), which in 1926 was adapted into the first Indonesian movie.

References
  1. Harding, L.E. (2010). "Trachypithecus cristatus (Primates: Cercopithecidae)". Mammalian Species. 42 (1): 149–165. doi:10.1644/862.1.
  2. Wilson, Don E.; Mittermeier, Russell A.; Rylands, Anthony B. (2012). "Introduction". Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Volume 3: Primates (1st ed.). Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553897. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  3. Roos, C.; Boonratana, R.; Supriatna, J.; Fellowes, J.R.; Groves, C.P.; Nash, S.D.; Rylands, A.B.; Mittermeier, R.A. (2014). "An updated taxonomy and conservation status review of Asian primates" (PDF). Asian Primates Journal. 4 (1): 2–38. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  4. Karanth, K. Praveen; et al. (2008). "Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of langurs and leaf monkeys of South Asia (Primates: Colobinae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 46 (2): 683–694. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.11.026. PMID 18191589. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  5. Groves, C. P. (2005). "Genus Trachypithecus". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  6. Osterholz, Martin; Walter, Lutz; Roos, Christian (2008). "Phylogenetic position of the langur genera Semnopithecus and Trachypithecus among Asian colobines, and genus affiliations of their species groups". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 8 (1): 58. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-58. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 2268674. PMID 18298809.
  7. Roos, C., Boonratana, R., Supriatna, J., Fellowes, J.R., Groves, C.P., Nash, S.D., Rylands, A.B. and Mittermeier, R.A. (2014). "An updated taxonomy and conservation status review of Asian primates" (PDF). Asian Primates Journal. 4 (1): 2–38. Retrieved 2018-08-30.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  8. Osterholz, Martin; Walter, Lutz; Roos, Christian (2008). "Phylogenetic position of the langur genera Semnopithecus and Trachypithecus among Asian colobines, and genus affiliations of their species groups". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 8 (58): 58. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-58. PMC 2268674. PMID 18298809.
  9. Brandon–Jones, D.; et al. (2004). "Asian Primate Classification". International Journal of Primatology. 25 (1): 97–164. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.694.7983. doi:10.1023/B:IJOP.0000014647.18720.32.
  10. Xiao Ping Wang; et al. (April 27, 2012). "Phylogenetic Relationships among the Colobine Monkeys Revisited: New Insights from Analyses of Complete mt Genomes and 44 Nuclear Non-Coding Markers". PLOS ONE. plos.org. 7 (4): e36274. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036274. PMC 3338693. PMID 22558416.
  11. Karanth, K. Praveen; et al. (2008). "Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of langurs and leaf monkeys of South Asia (Primates: Colobinae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 46 (2): 683–694. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.11.026. PMID 18191589. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  12. Roos, C.; et al. (2008). "Mitochondrial phylogeny, taxonomy and biogeography of the silvered langur species group (Trachypithecus cristatus)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 47 (2): 629–636. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.03.006. PMID 18406631.
  13. Roos, Christian; Helgen, Kristofer M.; Miguez, Roberto Portela; Thant, Naw May Lay; Lwin, Ngwe; Lin, Aung Ko; Lin, Aung; Yi, Khin Mar; Soe, Paing; Hein, Zin Mar; Myint, Margaret Nyein Nyein (2020). "Mitogenomic phylogeny of the Asian colobine genus Trachypithecus with special focus on Trachypithecus phayrei (Blyth, 1847) and description of a new species". Zoological Research. 41 (6): 656–669. doi:10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2020.254. ISSN 2095-8137.
  14. Roos, C.; et al. (2008). "Mitochondrial phylogeny, taxonomy and biogeography of the silvered langur species group (Trachypithecus cristatus)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 47 (2): 629–636. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.03.006. PMID 18406631.
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