| Douc[1] | |
|---|---|
| Red-shanked douc (Pygathrix nemaeus) at the Philadelphia Zoo | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Cercopithecidae |
| Subfamily: | Colobinae |
| Genus: | Pygathrix É. Geoffroy, 1812 |
| Type species | |
| Simia nemaeus Linnaeus, 1771 |
|
| Species | |
The doucs or douc langurs make up the genus Pygathrix, which consists of these 3 species:
These colobine Old World monkeys, native to Southeast Asia, have an extremely striking appearance. The red-shanked douc characteristically has bright maroon legs and reddish patches around the eyes. In contrast, the grey-shanked douc is less vibrant, with speckled grey legs and orange markings on the face. Both have dappled grey bodies, black hands and feet and white cheeks, although the cheek hairs of the red-shanked douc are much longer. The black-shanked douc has black legs. Their long hind limbs and tail allow these monkeys to be wonderfully agile in their treetop habitat.
Even though they are known as "douc langurs", they are in fact more closely related to the proboscis monkey and snub-nosed monkeys than to any of the langurs. They are part of the Colobinae subfamily of the Cercopithecidae family.