Purple-faced leaf monkey
The purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus ), also known as the purple-faced leaf monkey, is a species of Old World monkey that is endemic to Sri Lanka. The animal is a long-tailed arboreal species, identified by a mostly brown appearance, dark face (with paler lower face) and a very shy nature. The species was once highly prevalent, found in suburban Colombo and the "wet zone" villages (areas with high temperatures and high humidity throughout the year, whilst rain deluges occur during the monsoon seasons), but rapid urbanization has led to a significant decrease in the population level of the monkeys. It had traditionally been classified within the lutung genus Trachypithecus but was moved to the genus Semnopithecus based on DNA evidence indicating that is it more closely related to the gray langurs.
In Sinhala it is known as ශ්රී ලංකා කලු වදුරා (Sri Lanka black monkey).
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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BrowsingBrowsing is a type of herbivory in which an herbivore (or, more narrowly defined, a folivore) feeds on leaves, soft shoots, or fruits of high-growi...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
A territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
Grazing is a method of feeding in which a herbivore feeds on plants such as grasses, or other multicellular organisms such as algae. In agriculture...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe Purple-faced langur is an endangered long-tailed arboreal monkey that can be found only in Sri Lanka. It is identified by a mostly brown appearance, dark face (with paler lower face), and very shy nature. Males of this species are usually larger than females.
Purple-faced langurs are found in closed-canopy forests in Sri Lanka's mountains and the southwestern part of the country, known as the "wet zone". Although their range has constricted greatly in the face of human encroachment, Purple-faced langurs can still be seen in Sinharaja, Kitulgala, Kandalama, Mihintale, in the mountains at Horton Plains National Park or in the rainforest near the city of Galle.
Purple-faced langurs are active during the day. They spend their lives in threes and are very territorial. Purple-faced langurs live in groups that usually consist of one adult male, up to 7 adult females, and their offspring of different ages. Some males live in bachelor groups that usually number from 2 to 14 individuals. Purple-faced langurs are very vocal and communicate with each other using various types of calls. Loud calls are often used to distinguish between individual langurs. These include harsh barks, whoops, and residuals. Calls occur more often in the morning mostly stimulated by neighboring groups and territorial battles. More calls occur during sunny periods than cloudy. The fewest calls occur in the evening. Daytime calls usually aid in the defense of home ranges. The loud barking call, particularly of the highland form, can be mistaken for the roar of a predator such as a leopard. Purple-faced langurs vocalize to alert members of predators, attract mates, defend territory and locate group members. Adult males are usually the most vocal among the entire group.
Purple-faced langurs are herbivores, mostly folivores. They feed on various leaves but will also eat fruits, flowers, and seeds.
Female Purple-faced langurs give birth to a single infant after the gestation period of 195-210 days. The young are nursed by their mothers for 7-8 months and become reproductively mature at the age of 4 years.
Purple-faced langurs are threatened by habitat loss due to rapid urbanization, infringement on the range by croplands, grazing, changing agriculture, road production, soil loss/erosion and deforestation, poisoning from prevention of crop raiding, and hunting for medicine and food.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Purple-faced langur total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are decreasing.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...