Kashmir gray langur

Kashmir gray langur[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Semnopithecus
Species: S. ajax
Binomial name
Semnopithecus ajax
Pocock, 1928
Kashmir Gray Langur range

The Kashmir gray langur (Semnopithecus ajax) is an Old World monkey, one of the species of langurs. This, like other gray langurs, is a leaf-eating monkey. It is found in India west into Pakistani Kashmir[1] and Nepal.[2] It was formerly considered a subspecies of Semnopithecus entellus and is one of several Semnopithecus species named after characters from The Iliad, along with Semnopithecus hector and Semnopithecus priam.[3]

The Kashmir gray langur is considered to be endangered. This is due to its restricted range, fragmented population, and threats from human agriculture and development activities.[2] It is arboreal and diurnal, and lives in several types of forests at altitudes between 2200 and 4000 meters.[2]

The birthing season for the Kashmir gray langur runs from January through June, although almost half of all infants are born in March.[4] The infants are weaned at a higher age than most Asian colobines. While most Asian colobines wean their young within the first year, Kashmir gray langurs wean their young on average at 25 months.[4] This is apparently due to nutritional constraints, since monkeys in poorer sites wean their young at an older age.[4] The interbirth interval for females is about 2.4 years.[4]

Alloparental care occurs in Kashmir's gray langur for up to 5 months.[4] Males are usually protective of infants, but infanticide occasionally occurs.[4]

Although most Asian colobine groups contain only a single adult male and multiple females, multimale groups are known to occur within Semnopithecus species. With Kashmir's Gray Langur, multimale groups may include as many as five adult males.[4] Females initiate copulation by soliciting a male, but not all solicitations result in copulation.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 174. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100694. 
  2. ^ a b c d Groves, C. P. & Molur, S. (2008). Semnopithecus ajax. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 January 2009.
  3. ^ Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 174-175. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100693. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h R. Craig Kirkpatrick (2007). "The Asian Colobines". In Christina J. Campbell, Agustin Fuentes, Katherine C. MacKinnon, Melissa Panger and Simon K. Bearder. Primates in Perspective. pp. 191–193, 196. ISBN 978-0-19-517133-4.