Order : PRIMATES
Family : Cercopithecidae
Species : Presbytis sumatranus

Head-body length : ? cm
Tail length :  ? cm
Weight : ? kg

The Black Sumatran Langur inhabits a range of forested habitats including hill forest, lowland primary and secondary forest, and highly disturbed shrub forest in western and north-central Sumatra and parts of the east coast.

It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Mitred Langur Presbytis melalophos, but Roos et al (2014) consider it to be a valid species in its own right.

This langur feeds mainly on young leaves, but other vegetation may be consumed including flower, seeds and forest fruits.

Fur colour can be quite variable. The specimen illustrated here has distinctly bicoloured fur, with strong demarcation between medium grey fur on the back and sides of its body, and white fur on the chest and belly. This individual has a pronounced crest.

The distribution of this species is patchy, due to habitat loss and conversion of forest to plantations.

The Black Sumatran Langur is endemic to the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Figs 1 and 2 : Adult specimen from Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra.

Fig 3 : Mixed forest habitat in North Sumatra close to  the location of the specimen in figures 1 and 2.

Photos thanks to Andrea Molyneaux.


References :

Roos, C., Boonratana, R., Supriatna, J., Fellowes, J. R., Groves, C. P., Nash, S. D., Rylands, A. B & Mittermeier, R. A. (2014). An updated taxonomy and conservation status review of Asian primates. Asian Primates Journal : 4(1): 2-28.

Traeholt, C. & Setiawan, A. 2020. Presbytis sumatranus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T136912A17986913.