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Phayre's leaf monkey portrait

Phayre's leaf monkey

Phayre's leaf monkeys, or langurs, are old world monkeys that inhabit south east Asian tropical forests. They prefer to eat lots of immature leaves, flowers and fruits, and have an enhanced salivary gland that helps them break down all the tough plant material. When a group is alarmed, the females grab their young and flee through the forest while the males stay behind to bark at the intruders.

Scientific name: Trachypithecus phayrei

Rank: Species

Common names:

Phayre's langur

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Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the Phayre's leaf monkey taxa

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

The Phayre's leaf monkey can be found in a number of locations including: Asia, Indian subcontinent. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Phayre's leaf monkey distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Rainforest Rainforest
Rainforests are the world's powerhouses, the most vital habitats on the planet. Characterised by high rainfall, they only cover 6% of the Earth across the tropical regions, but they contain more than half of its plant and animal species.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

Conservation Status

Endangered

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Population trend: Decreasing

Year assessed: 2008

Classified by: IUCN 3.1

About

Phayre's leaf monkey (Trachypithecus phayrei), also known as Phayre's langur, is a species of lutung found in Southeast Asia. The species epithet commemorates Arthur Purves Phayre.

Its range includes Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

It is mostly arboreal and feeds on leaves of a large number of tree species. A study in Tripura, India found the principal food tree species to be Albizzia procera, Melocanna bambusoides, Callicarpa arborea, Dillenia pentagyna, Litsea sp., Albizzia lebbek, Mikania scandens, Gmelina arborea, Artocarpus chaplasha, Syzygium fruticosum, Ficus fistulosa, Ficus racemosa, Ficus hispida, Ficus indica. Macaranga denticulata and Albizzia stipulata.

There are three accepted subspecies of this lutung:

  • Trachypithecus phayrei phayrei
  • Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus
  • Trachypithecus phayrei shanicus

Read more at Wikipedia

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