Tropical Wildlife. Jane Whitten

      Proboscis and other

       Leaf Monkeys

      Leaf monkeys are found through most of Southeast Asia although some species, like the proboscis monkey, have very restricted ranges. Most are relatively slender monkeys with long tails and largely arboreal lifestyles. The species are distinguished by coat color and hair patterns on the head.

      Some leaf monkeys eat nothing but leaves, but most eat flowers, buds, seeds and shoots as well. They have complex stomachs, with bacteria-filled fermenting chambers that break down leaves, releasing the normally indigestible sugars and deactivating the leaf toxins. Because the leaf monkey eats such poor quality food, it has to forage for much of the day, and its stomach contents may constitute a quarter of the animal's weight.

      Leaf monkeys live mostly in large groups comprising one male and a number of females with their offspring. An infant is born with its eyes open and is strong enough to hold onto the mother's fur while she travels. Females frequently tolerate and even suckle each other's Small infants, Excess males form groups and look for opportunities to take over from breeding males. Incoming males usually kill all the infants fathered by their predecessors, although the mothers sometimes manage to protect their infants.

      The proboscis monkey is found only in the coastal swamp forests of Borneo. The males have remarkable faces, with long pendulous noses, the functions of which have long been the source of speculation. In the past, suggestions have been made that they enable the large male to give off heat or that the noses assist in swimming by acting like some kind of snorkel. It is now thought that they serve to attract females, like the peacock's tail. Proboscis monkeys feed mostly on young leaves and travel further than most forest monkeys to obtain this scarce food. These monkeys swim well and cross large rivers very quietly, with no splashing that could attract crocodiles.

      Silvered leaf monkey, Semnopithecus cristata

      Female and juvenile proboscis monkey, Nasalis larvatus

      Male proboscis monkey, Nasatis larvatus

      Banded leaf monkey, Presbytis melalophos

      Javan leaf monkey, Presbytis comma

      Macaques

      Macaques are the typical monkey—gregarious, active and curious. They are primarily fruit eaters, but will also eat other plant parts and small animals, from insects to birds and mammals, if they can catch them. Where they come into contact with people, they will expand their diets to include garbage, peanuts and other offerings, or stolen crops. They spend more time on the ground than the leaf monkeys, but are excellent climbers and swimmers.

      Macaques are long-lived and give birth to a single infant each year, after a gestation of five or six months. The infant is born with fur and open eyes, and can immediately travel clinging to its mother's belly fur, with a nipple in its mouth to support its head. Nursing becomes infrequent after the first few months, but usually continues until the next infant is born. These social animals spend long periods in mutual grooming, which helps reinforce group cohesion.

      The long-tailed or crab-eating macaque is found in a variety of habitats, especially coastal forests and offshore islands where it frequents low trees and scrub. The pig-tailed macaque, named for the shorter tail which it carries curled over its back, is found more in inland hill forests. It is mostly arboreal, but is unique in that it will descend to the ground to flee from people. Pig-tailed macaques seem to learn more readily than other macaques, and captive pig-tails are trained throughout the region to pick coconuts. Experienced individuals are able to choose ripe fruit without help, while less experienced individuals are directed by their handlers. Both species are found in groups of up to forty individuals, but these large groups often split up to feed.

      On the island of Sulawesi there are lour distinct species of macaque, all of which are found nowhere else. They all resemble the pig-tailed macaque, hut differ in fur pattern and color.

      Booted macaque, Macaca ochreata

      Long-tailed macaque, Macaca fascicularis

      Black-crested macaque. Macaca nigra

      Pig-tailed macaque, Macaca nemestrina

      Lorises and Tarsiers

      The slow loris is very appropriately named. This small, nocturnal creature prowls around the lower and middle canopy of mature or disturbed forest in search of fruit, nestlings and other small animals. It climbs very deliberately and slowly, walking hand over hand along the branches, one limb at a time and is able to remain motionless for hours on end. When catching an insect, the slow loris stands on its hind feet and throws its body forward with surprising speed, grabbing the animal with both hands and dispatching it with a bite from its sharp teeth.

      Female lorises do not make nests, but give birth in the Open to a single young each year. The offspring is at first carried continuously, but is later parked on

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