tint of yellowish brown. The rump and the base of the tail, which, even occasionally
in the young, but generally in the adult, are grey.
The tail is about one-sixth longer than the body.
Length of body to root of tail 26 inches, length of tail 30 inches.
The skull of S. johnii is about the same size as that of S. cephalopterus,
to which it is closely affined, but the muzzle is considerably narrower and somewhat
shorter, and the interval between the eyes is not so broad. Owing to the narrow
muzzle, the palate is more contracted than in either S. cephalopterus or S. ursinus, but
the teeth are somewhat larger. The supraorbital ridges are but little developed, and
the breadth across the fronto-malar suture is about the same as in S. cephalopterus,
also the breadth of the skull. The symphysis of the lower jaw is much shorter
than in S. cephalopterus, but the distance between the angles of the jaw is much
greater than in that species, and the dental ramus is not nearly so deep, nor is
the transverse breadth of the ascending ramus so great.
I t inhabits the high country from the Nilgiris to Travancore.
Its nearest allies are the white-whiskered S. cephalopterus of Ceylon, and
Semnopithecus obscur us on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal.
S. johnii is usually found in small troops, and leaps with amazing agility and
has a loud call like S. entellus.
Müller and Schlegel regarded S. johnii as simply a climatic race of S. cephalopterus,
an opinion which was at one time held by Blyth, but with other limitations.
S e m n o p i t h e c u s c e p h a l o p t e r u s , Zimmermann.
The Mon-tailed Monkey 0 ), Pennant, Syn. Mamm. 1771, p. 109, pi. 108, fig. 2.
la guenon à face purpre, Buffon, Hist. Nat. Suppl. vol. vii. 1789, p. 80, pi. xxi. ; Latr. Buffon. Hist.
Nat. (Sonnini) vol. xxxv. 1809, p. 292, pi. xxvii.
The Purple-faced Monkey, Pennant, Hist. Quad. vol. i. 3rd ed. 1793, p. 199, pi. xliii.; Shaw, Gen.
Zool. vol. i. pt. 1. (1800), pi. xiii.
Cercopithecus kephalopterus, Zimm. Geograph. Gesch. vol. ii. 1780, p. 185.
Cercopithecus cephalopterus, Boddaert, Blench. Animal. 1785, p. 58; Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 1829,
p /17.
Simla veter, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. i. pt. i. (1800), p. 30.
Cercopithecus leucoprymnus, Otto. Nova. Acta. Acad. Nat. Cur., vol. xii. 1825, p. 505; Lesson,
Man. de Mamm. 1827, p. 37.
Semnopithecus fulvogriseus, Desmoulins, Diet. Class d’Hist. Nat. vol. vii. 1825, p. 570; Is.
Geoff. St.-Hil. Yoy. de. Bélanger, Zool. 1834, p. 36 (in part) ; Comptes Eendus, vol. xv. 1842,
p. 719; Martin, Charlesworth’s Mag. Nat. Hist, (new series), vol. ii. 1838, p. 439.
Semnopithecus leucoprymnus, Desm. Diet, des Sc. Nat. vol. xlviii. 1827, p. 439 ; Geoff. St.-Hil. Cours
de. l'Hist. Nat. des. Mammif. (1828) lect. 8, p. 10; Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 1829, p. 16;
Lesson, Compl. des OEuvres de Buffon, 1828-30, vol. iv. p. 22; Sp. des Mammif. 1880, p. 57 ;
Is. Geoff. St.-Hil. Yoy. aux Indes. Orient. Bélanger, Zool. 1834 (in part), p. 86; Cat. Méthod.
des Mammif. 1851, p. 12 ; Wagner, Schreber, Saugeth. Suppl. vol. i. 1840, p. 90 ; Ibid,
Suppl. vol. v. 1855, p. 25 ; Müller und Schlegel, Verhandl. 1889-44, p. 59 ; Schinz, Syn.
Mamm. vol. i. 1844, p. 40; Gervais, Hist. Nat. des Mammif. 1844, p. 60; Dahlbom, Stud.
Zool. Fam. Reg. An. 1850, pp. 87-89 ; Gray, Cat. Monkeys and Lemurs, B. M. 1870, p. 14.
Semnopithecus nestor, Bennett, Froc. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 67 ; Lesson, Sp. des Mammif. 1840, p. 60;
Waterhouse, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1844, p. 1 ; Fitzinger, Sitzr. der Math. Natur. vol. xvii. 1855,
p. 242.
Semnopithecus cephalopterus, Martin, Nat. Hist. Quadr. 1841, p. 482, plate 286 ; Blyth, Joum.
As. Soc. Beng. vol. x. 1841, p. 839 ; vol. xii. 1848, p. 169 ; vol. xiii. 1844, p. 468 (in part),
p. 476 (in part).
Presbytis cephalopterus, Gray, Hand-list Mamm. 1843, p. 4; Waterhouse, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1844,
p. 180; Blyth, Joum. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xvi. 1847, pp. 784 & 1271 (plate); vol. xliv. 1875
ex. no. p. 11 ; Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus. 1862, p. 13 ; Relaart, Fauna Zeylanica, 1852, p. 1 ;
Sir E. Tennent, Nat. Hist. Ceylon, 1861, p. 5, plate, fig. 8, not fig. 1, which is S. thersites.
The general colour of this species is uniform greyish black, becoming black on
the hands and feet ; the lower part of the back, the base of the tail, and the outside
of the upper part of the thighs are grey, tinged with brown in younger specimens,
and the hair is rather short. The tail is tufted, becoming albescent towards its tip.
The top of the head and the back of the neck are greyish brown ; strong, black,
supraorbital hairs extending outwards to near the ear. A ruff of white hairs, more
or less tinged with brown, encircling the face and extending on to the throat and
under surface of neck ; the hairs on the sides of the face long, soft, and pointed upwards,
forming a conspicuous whisker. The skin of the face black, with a purplish
tinge ; the palms and soles dull black. The under parts are dusky grey or only
paler than the back, but generally the insides of the thighs anterior to the callosities
are pale yellowish, almost white.
Length of body 1 foot 9 inches, and tail 2 feet 7 inches.
Habitat.—Ceylon, but to no great altitude.
The young of S. cephalopterus generally resembles the parents, but I have
before me a young female from Ceylon, uniform pale yellowish, the top of the head
being faintly washed with brownish and the shoulder and the middle of the back
tinged with dusky. There can be no doubt of the identity of the race or variety
with S. cephalopterus}
The characters of the skull and wherein they differ from S. ursinus, the most
nearly allied form, will be found stated under that species.
I have examined the type of Desmarest’s S. leucoprymnus in the Paris Museum,
which exactly agrees with the foregoing description, but I cannot say as much for
the type of S. latibarbatus, which is quite a baby ; it is wholly yellow, with paler
cheeks and chin, but the locality from whence it came was unknown. In the Cat.
Méthod. des Mammifères this monkey has still been retained as distinct from S.
cephalopterus, and it is there remarked that the individual is unfortunately very younç,
but that the examination of it and Pennant’s figure furnishes many arguments in
1 The following references appear to relate to the white var. of S. cephalopterus :—
Another sort o f monkey, Enos, Hist. Relation of Ceylon, p. i. ch. vi. p. 25 (1681).
The Lion-tailed Monkey, var. (y), Pennant’s Syn. Quad. 1771, p. 110.
The Purple-faced Monkey, Pennaut, Hist. Quad. vol. i. 3rd ed. 1793, p. 199, (white var.)
Cercopithecus senex, Erxleben, Syst. Reg. An. 1777, p. 24; Zimm. Geograph. Gesch. vol. ii. 1780, p. 183; Boddaert,
Elenoh. An. vol. i. 1785, p. 57.
Macacus silenus, var. alba, Fischer, Syn. Mam. 1829, p. 28.
Presbytis albinus, Kelaart, Fauna Zeylanica, 1852, p. 7.