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
The food of the _Semnopithecinæ_--of which they consume a large bulk at a
time--consists chiefly of leaves and young shoots of trees. For this
purpose their sacculated stomach forms a necessary receptacle and store for
their food during their hasty collection of it.
The Sub-family practically consists of but two genera--_Colobus_ and
_Semnopithecus_. One species, forming a third genus (_Nasalis_), is closely
related to the latter. The _Colobi_ are confined to Africa, and the
_Semnopitheci_--of which there are a large number of species--inhabit the
mainland of India, the Malayan Peninsula, and the neighbouring Archipelago
as far east only as _Wallace's line_, which runs between the islands of
Bali and Lombock, and northwards to the east of Borneo.
THE GUEREZAS. GENUS COLOBUS.
_Colobus_, Illiger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm., p. 69 (1811).
The Guerezas are a group of Monkeys entirely confined to the African
continent. The character which especially {86}distinguishes them from the
Langurs, which (with the exception of the monotypic Nosed Monkeys of
Borneo) form the remaining members of the Sub-family, is the condition of
their thumbs. In these animals the thumb is practically absent, being
either quite invisible externally, or presenting merely a tubercle, which
may or may not have a nail upon it. The hands are long and straight, and
the nails of the fingers are compressed and pointed. In these animals the
body is slender, though somewhat more robust than in _Semnopithecus_. The
face is naked or covered only with a sparse and soft down, the nostrils
being separated by a wide division. From this feature these Monkeys have
been described by some naturalists as Platyrrhine or Megarrhine. The ears
are rounded above, with the posterior upper angle pointed or square, and
generally naked, but they are sometimes haired or tufted inside. All the
Guerezas have a specially elongated tail, which is often tufted at the end.
Their fur is long and slightly harsher than that of the Langurs, but it is
not ringed with differently coloured bands. Their callosities are large and
naked.
The skulls in _Colobus_ and _Semnopithecus_ are very similar in shape; but
those of the former are often longer, larger, and have a greater cranial
capacity than those of the _Semnopitheci_. The muzzle is short, and the
hind molar of the lower jaw has five tubercles. The thumbs, even when
apparently absent, are represented under the skin by a single bone, the
ungual phalanx, which articulates directly with the metacarpal bone. The
Guerezas differ from the Guenons in having very small cheek-pouches and no
laryngeal sacs. Their stomach is transversely sacculated like the upper
part of the great intestine in the human body.
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