Germs S e m n o p i t h e c u s , E. C u v .1
* S e m n o p i t h e c u s b a e b e i , Blyth.
? Semnopithecus maurus, Heifer, Journ. As. Soe. Bengal, vol. xii. 1848, p. 858.
Presbytia Barbei, Blyth, Journ. As. Soe. Bengal, vol. xvi. 1847, p. 784; vol. xliv. 1875, ex. no.
p. ll^?Cat. Mamm. As. Soe. Mus. 1868, p. 14.
This species has no crest, nor is the hair so elongated on the occiput as in
S. obscurus, Reid, but the hair on the side of the head, before the ears, is long and
outwardly projecting. The adults of both sexes are alike in colour, and the general
hue is dark blackish-fuliginous, but the shoulders, fore-limbs, exclusive of the
hands, the front of the tibial portions of the hind limbs, the back and sides of the
head and the tail, are feebly washed with silvery grey over the dark fur: The
hands, feet, eyebrows, and whiskers are black. The under parts are concolorous
with the general tin t of the body. There is no trace of a white stripe on the inside
of the limbs. The hair on the vertex is moderately long and directed backwards;
on the lips there is a narrow fringe of short yellowish hairs, and there is a short
beard. The skin of the face is bluish black.
Length of body 1 foot 7^ inches, tail 2 feet 5 inches.
The skull of S. barbei has the comparatively elongated interorbital region of
S. obscurus, but its nasals are very much broader and form a considerable suture
with the frontal, and the facial portion of the skull is also less forwardly projected
than in that species. The orbits in both of these species are more or less rounded,
while in S. siamensis they are transversely broader than high, and contracted towards
their inner side and associated with a short interorbital septum.
There is a very close similarity between the under surfaces of the skulls of
S. obscurus and S. barbei, but the latter is distinguished by a much shorter palate
and by a somewhat more curved dental line than in S. obscurus.
The teeth of S. barbei are somewhat smaller than in S. obscurus. The last
molar of the lower jaw of S. barbei and S. obscurus has a well-developed fifth
talon, as in the majority of the Semnopitheci.
s The symphysis of the lower jaw of S. barbei is not so deep as in *S. obscurus,
but it is much broader in front and more flattened than in S. obscurus.
1 The genera Semnopithecus and Presbytis were both created in 1821, the first by P. Cuvier (Hist. Hat. des Mammif.
vol. ii. Juillet 1821) for the reception of S- melalophus and S. entellus, which, like the majority o f their allies, are
distinguished by having three tubercles or cusps on the last inferior molar, while the second, Presbytis, was founded
by Eschscholtz on S. mitratus, which has only four tubercles on the last inferior molar. Mivart,® however, has
recently shown that certain individuals o f S. siamensis agree with S. mitratus in the absence of the fifth talon, and that
much importance cannot be attached to its absence or presence, as we find Qallago ( Otogale) pa llid a , Gray, subject
to a similar variation, and also Nycticibus javanicus, Is. Geoff., as recorded by Huxley.3 The circumstance, therefore,
that the genus Semnopithecus more accurately portrays the general characters of the group than Presbytis, and the
fact that it has been adopted by the great majority of naturalists, in preference to the latter term, are the reasons
which lead me to adopt it.
2 Proe. Zool. Soc. 1884, p. 626. # 9 Ibid, p. 323.
An adult female (type) skull, when compared with a male skull with the
dentition perfect, presents these characters; it is considerably larger and has the
interorbital region much more vertical. I observe that in 8. obscu/rus, a female of
that species is also distinguished from the male skull not only by amore vertical
but by a longer and narrower interorbital region. Indeed, the differences that
exist in these respects between the skulls of well-authenticated examples of the
two sexes are greater than are generally found to exist* between the same sexes
of different species 1
Taking the characters of this form as a whole, there can be no doubt that its
nearest ally is S. obscurus. In his original description of the species, Blyth stated
that his types were from the province of Ye in Tenasserim, but in his catalogue of
mammals1 he afterwards assigned them to the Tippera hills on the authority of the
Reverend Mr. Barbe, the original discoverer of this monkey.
I observed this species in 1868 in the valley of the Tapeng in the centre of the
Kakhyen hills, in troops of about thirty to fifty monkeys, usually distributed over
three or four high forest trees overhanging the mountain streams th a t debouch into
the Tapeng. Being seldom disturbed they permitted a near approach.
In the defile of the Ira wady above Mandalay on the left bank of the river this
species is also met with in the patches of thick forest which occur in th a t
locality.
* S e m n o p i t h e c u s p i l e a t u s , Blyth.
The Assam entellus monlcey, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. vol. xvi. 1847, p. 782.
Semnopithecus pileatus, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xii. 1848, p. 174; Ibid, vol. xiii. 1844,
pp. 467., 476; Horsfield, Cat. Mam. E. Ind. Co. Mus- 1857, p. 7; Wagner, Schreber,
Saugeth. Suppl. vol. v. 1855, p. 30; Hutton, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, pp. 946, 950.
Presbytis pileatus, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xvi. 1847, pp. 786, 1271, pi. xxvi. fig. 3;
vol. xliv. 1875, ex. no. p. 11; Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus. 1863, p. i.2.
Presbytis chrysogaster, Licht. Peters, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1866, p. 429.
Semnopithecus potenziani, Pr. Bonap. Comptes Rendus, vol. xliii. 1856, p. 412.
A black-faced crestless monkey, somewhat smaller than S. entellus. Long, black
supraciliary hairs outwardly divergent. Hairs on the vertex not elongated, but
somewhat longer than those on the occiput and temples, which they impend and
produce a capped appearance. The whiskers before the ears long and outwardly
divergent and hiding the lower half of these organs, and continued down the
sides of the cheek to the chin as a short but distinct ruff. The upper surface
of the head dark ashy grey, tending to black, and contrasting with the reddish-
yellow whiskers and beard, but more or less tinged with ferruginous, which is
occasionally rather well marked on the front of the forehead. The rest of the upper
parts, including the neck, the upper half of the brachium, and the lower half of the
limb below the elbow, the outside of the thighs, and the whole of the tail dark