A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 2 (of 2)Forbes, Henry O. (Henry Ogg)
Science
A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 2 (of 2)
Forbes, Henry O. (Henry Ogg)
Primates
In regard to the Bornean specimens of this species, Dr. Anderson makes the
following observations: "This species varies from grey to dark
yellowish-brown, but the grey tint in certain lights appears pure ashy, and
in others of a brownish tint. In some the chest and abdomen are frequently
yellow, and this seems to be the character of individuals met with on the
west coast of Borneo, while those inhabiting the meridional parts of the
island have the hands and fore part of the body of a black-brown or
reddish-brown. In both of these varieties there is a yellowish-white
superciliary streak. The last of them leads into the varieties of
_Hylobates_ from the neighbouring islands of Sulu, to the north-east of
Borneo, in which the upper parts of the body are either grey or brownish,
the lower part of the back and the loins being a little more clear than the
rest." The outer surface of the limbs, the back part of the head, the
supercilium, and the sides of the face are more or less pure ashy-grey.
"Specimens of this Gibbon obtained by me," writes Mr. Charles Hose, who is
well known for his Bornean researches, {158}"at Claudetown, and now in the
British Museum, show that the colouring in different parts of the body must
be considered of little importance, as I obtained eleven specimens, five of
which were in the same troop and the other six from the same locality,
varying in colour as much as it is possible for them to do; some had
yellowish backs and black chests, others black backs with yellowish chests,
and some were nearly black all over; whilst others were almost a complete
silver-grey. I, therefore, come to the conclusion that _H. muelleri_ and
_H. leuciscus_ cannot be separated. The peculiar bubbling noise they make
is similar. I think it very unlikely that two distinct species should be so
constantly found together as they are in Sarawak.
"The natives call the silver-grey variety 'Emplian' or 'Wa-Wa,' and the
dark one, 'Emplian arang' (coal), because of its colour."
III. THE WHITE-CHEEKED GIBBON. HYLOBATES LEUCOGENYS.
_Hylobates leucogenys_, Ogilby, P. Z. S., 1840, p. 20; Blyth, J. A. S.
Beng., x., p. 838 (1841); Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 445, _cum fig._
(1841); Is. Geoffr., C. R., xv., p. 717 (1842); id., Arch. Mus., ii., p.
535 (1843); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 11 (1870); Schl., Mus.
Pays-Bas, vii., p. 13 (1876); Scl., P. Z. S., 1877, p. 679, pl. lxx.;
Anderson, Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 6 (1878; with synonymy).
CHARACTERS.--Fur glossy, thick, and woolly; the hair of the upper and back
part of the head standing vertically erect; the face, chin, and ears black;
round the face from the level of the eyes and meeting below the chin runs a
white border, forming {159}whiskers and beard; elsewhere the colour is
entirely black. Length of the body, 26 inches.
DISTRIBUTION.--Siam.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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