SEMNOPITHECUS. 25 



Subfamily SEMNOPITHECIN^. 



The members of this subfamily are easily distinguished by their 

 slender form, and by the absence of cheek-pouches. They are 

 more purely herbivorous than the Macaque monkeys, and a con- 

 siderable portion of their food consists of leaves and young shoots. 

 Their digestive organs are much modified, and the stomach bears 

 some resemblance to that of ruminant ungulates, being large in 

 size and divided into three portions. In consequence probably of 

 the more restricted nature of their food, these monkeys are far 

 more delicate than the species of Macaeus, and are less easily kept 

 alive in confinement. They are consequently not nearly so well 

 represented in European museums, and they have been less studied 

 by European naturalists. Very little is known of their breeding- 

 habits or of their life-history in general. 



The only Indian genus is Semnopithecus, which is found almost 

 throughout the Oriental region. The corresponding African genus 

 Colobus is distinguished by having the thumb of the hand rudi- 

 mentary. 



For descriptions of the anatomy, see Otto, Acad. Cses. Leop. 

 Nova Acta, xii, 1825, p. 505 (a partial translation of this ap- 

 peared in the ' Zoological Journal,' vol. iii, p. 249) ; Owen, Trans. 

 Zool. Soc. i, p. 65; and Murie, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 740. 



Genus SEMNOPITHECUS*, F. Cuvier, 1821. 

 Syn. Presbytis, Eschscholtz. 



Body and limbs slender. Tail long, exceeding in length the 

 head and body together in all Indian, Ceylonese, and Burmese 

 species. Thumb short, but well developed. A row of long stiff 

 black hairs across the eyebrows. Vertebrae : C. 7, D. 12, L. 7, S. 3, 

 C. 25-30. 



Dentition : i. J, c. g, pm. g, m. Jg. 



The skull is rounder than in the Macaques, the breadth of the 

 brain-case being relatively greater and the development of the 

 muzzle less. The facial angle is consequently higher, although 

 the intelligence is certainly not superior, and is apparently lower. 



* Both the genera Semnvpithccus and Presbytis were proposed in the same 

 year, 1821, the former, iu the French form Scmnopithtqtie, for S. entellus and 

 S. melalophos (Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes), the latter for 8. mitratus 

 (Kotzebue's ' Entdeckungs Reise,' iii, p. 196). The latter species is somewhat 

 aberrant. The name Semnopithecus has been more widely used than Presbytis, 

 and is accordingly adopted here. 



