Red-shanked douc
| Red-shanked Douc Template:StatusEndangered | ||||||||||||||
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| Red-shanked Douc | ||||||||||||||
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| Pygathrix nemaeus (Linnaeus, 1771) |
Red-shanked doucs are probably the most colourful of mammals. These colourfull and attractive primates are sometimes called the "costumed ape" for their extravagant appearance. This colourfull monkey looks like a little buddha, wearing a gray shirt and black shorts. It sports maroon-red stockings (from knee to ankle) and white forearm length gloves. Its attire is finished with black hands and feet. Their beautiful golden faces are framed by a white ruff, which is considerably fluffier in males. The eyelids are a soft powder blue. The tail is white with a triangle of white hair at the base, males of all ages have white spot on both sides of the corners of the rump patch, females don't have these. Males have red and white genitals!
The word ‘Douc’ (pronounced ‘dook’) is an ancient name of Vietnamese origin. The douc is an arboreal and diurnal monkey, they will eat, sleep and feed in the trees of the forest.
Habitat
Pygathrix are native to Southeast Asia, specifically the countries Cambodia, China, Laos and Vietnam. The red-shanked douc lanur is thought to be only found in north and central Vietnam and Laos. Before 1967, the douc was completely unstudied. Doucs are found in a variety of habitats: from lowland to mountainous terrain up to 2,000 m (6,560 feet), decidious, Primary Rainforest and Secondary Rainforest rainforests, in the mid to upper levels of the canopy.
Taxonomic relationships and Size
Even though they are known as "Douc Langurs", they are in fact more closely related to the proboscis monkey and Rhinopithecus, than to Langurs. Even though they are not real Langurs, they are still called this. They are part of the colobinae family.
Like other Langurs, the red-shanked douc is a long slender monkey. They are 61-76cm tall, tail 56-76cm long, with males slightly larger than females. Males weigh up to 7kg (15,4 pound), females up to 5kg (11 pound). No colour differences between genders (except for the rump spots).
Behaviour, Mating, Reproduction and Lifespan
Doucs are, like all monkeys, social animals and they live in groups, with an average size of 4-15, but groups of up to 50 have been recorded. A group usually consists of 1 or more males and approximately 2 females per male. Both males and females have their own hierarchies and males are dominant to females. Both males and females leave the group they were born in, their natal group.
Like all other Old New World monkeys, their tails are not prehensile. They use their tails solely for balance, and use their arms and legs to move through the forest, along established routes. Doucs are aerial specialists, high up in the canopy. They are very agile and frequently make breath-taking leaps of up to 6 m (20 feet), leaping with their arms outstretched over their heads, pushing off with their legs and landing on two feet first.
When the group is untroubled, Doucs will move noisily from branch to branch, through the trees, crashing through foliage, swinging under branches and leaping with two feet together, displaying their remarkeble sense of balance. But when a group is disturbed, by either a predator or other dangers, they can flee soundlessly through the trees, away from danger.
I (User:Magraggae am working on this page, will finish up later today (15 July 2004, 18:03 (GMT+1)), please leave it alone today, because I am still adding and editing a lot