Semnopithecus priam, Blyth, 1844

Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Cercopithecidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 550-755 : 736-737

137.

Tufted Gray Langur

Semnopithecus priam

French: Langur de Madras / German: Sudlicher Hulman / Spanish: Langur monudo

Other common names: Coromandel Crested Langur, Coromandel Gray Langur, Coromandel Sacred Langur, Madras Gray Langur; Central Indian Gray Langur (anchises), Madras Gray Langur (priam), Southern Gray Langur / Sri Lankan Gray Langur (thersites)

Taxonomy. Semnopithecus priam Blyth, 1844 ,

India, Coromandel Coast.

M. L. Roonwal separated gray langurs of South Asia into a northern group and a southern group based on tail carriage. S. priam is of the southern group (Type IIB), with the tail held up in a letter “S,” and the distal one-third pointing backward, not dangling. In his 1939 review of the Asian langurs, W. C. O. Hill considered the forms anchises and thersites to be subspecies of S. priam , and recent molecular studies based on mtDNA and nuclear DNA have confirmed this. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

S. p. priam Blyth, 1844 — S & SE India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka , Kerala, and Tamil Nadu states), a highly fragmented distribution ranging from the Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh S to Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.

S. p. anchises Blyth 1844 — SC India (S Deccan Plateau), found in the districts of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, and in Pavagada in the district of Tumkur, Karnataka .

S. p. thersites Blyth 1847 — Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, ranging from Jaffna in the N to the S coast.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 58.4-64 cm, tail 66-101.6 cm; weight 11.4-13.5 kg (males). The Tufted Gray Langur is the smallest of the gray langurs. In the “Central Indian Gray Langur” (S. p. anchises), coat is brownish gray, variable with some individuals having darker coats in wetter areas and duller hues in drier areas.Its belly and chest have an orange tinge, well pronounced and prominent in wetter coastal habitats and duller, paler in drier areas. It has no crest. Its palms are dark up to knuckles. The “Madras Gray Langur” (S. p. priam ) has a conspicuous coconut tuft-like crest on its head. Its fur is grayish-brown on crown, dorsum, arms, upper thighs, and tail. It is creamy white on head, including cheek whiskers, and white on rump. Its limbs are paler than its body and either gray, blond, or near-white. Skin on its face and ears is black. It has long and bristle-like eyebrows. The “Sri Lankan Gray Langur” (S. p. thersites) has creamy white cheek and chin whiskers, a distinctive pointed, brown-coconut tuft-like crest on its crown, and a prominent fringe. It is brownish-gray (darker than the Madras Gray Langur) on its dorsum, and paler on its ventrum, hands, and limbs. Its tail is dark, with a white tip.

Habitat. Mostly in forested areas, occasionally in home gardens, at elevations of 180— 1200 m. The “Central Indian Gray Langur” (S. p. anchises) is found in tropical dry deciduous forests, occupying the middle to upper canopy at elevations up to 800 m, as well as near human settlements and forest fringes. The Madras Gray Langur is found at elevations of 180-1200 m in highly degraded, non-contiguous tropical dry evergreen forest and scrub forest. The Sri Lankan Gray Langur, endemic to Sri Lanka, is found in dry, deciduous forests in lowlands, and it overlaps with the Purple-faced Langur (S. vetulus ) in semi-evergreen forests. It does not occur in wetter evergreen forests and hill zones at elevations above 500 m in southern Sri Lanka, which is the exclusive domain of the Purple-faced Langur. It can also be found in urban outskirts and temples. The Sri Lankan Dry Zone has a marked dry season in June—October and annual rainfall is ¢.1700 mm. Sri Lankan Gray Langurs inhabit alluvial and high stature forest (15 m high or more) and medium and low stature forest (5-15 m), low scrub, and slash-and-burn cultivation.

Food and Feeding. Most of what is known about the Tufted Gray Langur comes from studies of the Sri Lankan Gray Langur in the Sri Lankan Dry Zone at Polonnaruwa. They spent 48% of their feeding time eating leaves and shoots (less than 50% of this on mature leaves), 45% fruits and seeds (generally mature and fleshy fruits), and 7% flowers. They also ate termite clay. They were more frugivorous,living in larger groups, and using larger home ranges than the partially sympatric Purple-faced Langur. In some months, fruits made up 80-90% of the diet. In any one month, mature leaves never made up more than 50% of the diet. In this study, 90% of the diet was supplied by 23 tree species; 30% by three species— Walsura piscidia (Meliacaeae), Drypetes sepiaria ( Euphorbiaceae ), and Schleichera oleosa (Sapindacae)—and 50% by five species— adding Adina cordifolia (Rubiaceae) and Ficus benghalensis ( Moraceae ). Another three Ficus species were also included in the diet. During the monsoon in February-March, they ate mainly young leaves and shoots, especially of Walsura and Drypetes, and smaller amounts of mature leaves. In the dry season in May—October, they were more frugivorous; fruits were more abundant then, especially Drypetes and Ficus , and fruits dominated the diet in April-September. Flowers were eaten mainly during the dry season, and leaves were again the principal items in the second monsoon in October-November and rains in December—January. When near settlements and villages, Sri Lankan Gray Langurs also feed on fruits, flowers, and cultivated crops. In some areas people feed them, and this can be a significant portion of their diet.

Breeding. Although little is known about breeding patterns of the Tufted Gray Langur, it is likely similar to its congener, the Malabar Sacred Langur (S. hypoleucos ). Births occur throughout the year. Females have a 24day menstrual cycle and are receptive through the year. The gestation period is 168-200 days, and the interbirth interval is 16-7 months. Infants are weaned after 13-20 months.

Activity patterns. The Tufted Gray Langur is diurnal and mainly terrestrial. Foraging activity peaks in early morning at 06:00-09:30 h and again before nightfall at 15:30-18:00 h. Intensive feeding takes up to c.3 hours/day.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no definitive information for the mainland populations of Tufted Gray Langurs. The Sri Lankan Gray Langur lives in unimale—multifemale and multimale-multifemale groups of 20-60 individuals, with 3-6 adult males. They live in home ranges of 30-130 ha that overlap extensively. Core areas of exclusive use are 7-20 ha. Group sizes and home ranges tend to be larger in open habitats than in forests. At Yala National Park in south-eastern Sri Lanka, groups have 40-60 individuals, with 8-10 adult males. It would seem that even in these dry areas, Tufted Gray Langurs are not very dependent on free water. A group studied at Polonnurawa lived near a reservoir but rarely drank from it. Considered to be a spacing mechanism among groups, males give loud “whooping calls” in choruses in early to mid-morning (after sympatric Purple-faced Langurs, which generally call before sunrise). Sometimes Tufted Gray Langurs go to the tops of emergent tamarind trees (Tamanindus indica , Fabaceae ) for these choruses. A distinctive feature of their social behavior is the “display jump,” performed at any time during the day, usually stimulated by hearing another group. Males whoop and jump between branches, often, it seems, breaking them intentionally, in a heavy stiff fashion. They are sometimes accompanied in these displays by females without young. The Tufted Gray Languris largely terrestrial (c.80% of time). They move quadrupedally or with a leaping gait through the forest. When not eating, females groom, tend their infants, or rest, whereas males tend to sit up in a tree, giving low calls (especially grunts), watching the group, and presumably being vigilant for other groups or predators. Group encounters are quite frequent (about one every ten hours) and are generally antagonistic, involving chases, displacements, threats, mild wrestling, grabbing, and sometimes fighting. It is evident that groups force these encounters in that they travel far off their habitual routes to find their neighbors. Interactions of this sort can last up to two hours. Group takeovers are common, with new males aggressively ousting the existing alpha male. Infants and Juveniles are often killed in such troop takeovers.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List, including the nominate subspecies priam . The subspecies thersites is classified as Endangered and anchises (under S. dussumieri anchises) as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. It is protected under Schedule II, Part I, of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Primary threats to Tufted Gray Langurs are habitat loss, wildfires, hunting for food, and conflict with people (crop raiding). The Central Indian Gray Langur occurs in the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve. The Madras Gray Langur is declining in Andhra Pradesh because of hunting and habitat loss. Hunting is rampant in the Eastern Ghats and along the eastern coast. Tufted Gray Langurs occur in nine protected areas in India: Bandipur and Sri Venkateshwara national parks; Cauvery, Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple, Mudumalai, Indira Gandhi, Chinnar, and Nellapattu wildlife sanctuaries; and Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve. The Sri Lankan Gray Langur is protected under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance Act No. 2, 1937, and its subsequent amendments, including Act No. 49, 1993, in Sri Lanka. It occurs in Ritigala Strict Nature Reserve; Victoria-Randenigala-Rantambe; Knuckles Forest; Ampara, Buddaragala and Kanthale Naval wildlife sanctuaries; and Wilpattu, Angamedilla, Flood Plains, Giritale, Moragaswawe, Somawathie, Wasagamuwa, Udawalawe, Bundala, Lunugamvehara, Madura Oya, and Ruhuna national parks.

Bibliography. Bennett & Davies (1994), Groves (2001), Hill (1938, 1939), Hladik (1977), Karanth (2010), Kirkpatrick (2011), Molur, Brandon-Jones et al. (2003), Molur, Singh & Kumar (2008b), Nag et al. (2011a), Nekaris & de Silva (2009), Oppenheimer (1977), Ripley (1967, 1970), Roonwal (1984, 1986), Roonwal, Prita & Saha (1984).

Figures

132. Bengal Sacred Langur (Semnopithecus entellus), 133. Chamba Sacred Langur (Semnopithecus ajax), 134. Terai Sacred Langur (Semnopithecus hector), 135. Nepal Sacred Langur (Semnopithecus schistaceus), 136. Malabar Sacred Langur (Semnopithecus hypoleucos), 137. Tufted Gray Langur (Semnopithecus priam), 139. Nilgiri Langur (Semnopithecus john)

Subspecies and Distribution. S. p. priam Blyth, 1844 — S & SE India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka , Kerala, and Tamil Nadu states), a highly fragmented distribution ranging from the Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh S to Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. S. p. anchises Blyth 1844 — SC India (S Deccan Plateau), found in the districts of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, and in Pavagada in the district of Tumkur, Karnataka . S. p. thersites Blyth 1847 — Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, ranging from Jaffna in the N to the S coast.