Pygathrix nigripes
Creators: name: Russell A. Mittermeier
name: Anthony B. Rylands
name: Don E. Wilson
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Cercopithecidae
Pygathrix
Pygathrix nigripes

description: 124.
Black-shanked Douc
Pygathrix nigripes
French: Douc a pattes noires / German: Schwarzschenkel-Kleideraffe / Spanish: Duc de patas negras
Other common names: Black-shanked Douc Langur, Black-shanked Douc Monkey
Taxonomy. Semnopithecus nigripes Milne-Edwards, 1871,
Vietnam, Saigon.
P. migripes is known to hybridize narrowly with P. nemaeus where their distributions overlap in northern Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, and in north-eastern Cambodia (Virachey National Park). Monotypic.
Distribution. E Cambodia (E of the Mekong River and S of the Srepok River) and SW Vietnam from c.14° N to S Cat Tien National Park. The presence of this species in S Laos is suspected but has never been confirmed.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 55-63 cm (males) and 54-60 cm (females), tail 69-84 cm (males) and 65-80 cm (females); weight 8-11 kg (males) and 6.8-2 kg (females). Males and females have the same fur coloration. Back, head, and arms of the Black-shanked Douc are dark-gray agouti, much darker than in the Redshanked Douc (P. nemaeus). Chest and belly are very light gray, nearly white. Upper and lowerlegs, feet, and hands are black. A white throat is surrounded by a chestnut collar that comes close to a black band running from shoulder to shoulder. Tail is white and has a thin tassel, and is longer than those of the other two doucs. Above tail root is a white triangular patch which in males is further adorned by a pair of tufts at each anterior angle. Face is bluish, with large yellow eye-rings. A black forehead band runs along sides of head down to shoulders. Ears are inside a black triangular area. Whiskers are short and thin, but longer hairs form a goatee. Penis is red, and scrotum is blue. A few individuals differ in coloration, e.g. white markings on wrists to completely white forearms, or more or less maroon lower legs, resembling the Red-shanked Douc, but with the typical and very different face coloration of the Black-shanked Douc. Newborn Black-shanked Doucs have a dark gray-agouti stripe on their back along the spine. White from the belly extends over side of the body to their back. Legs are chestnut, upper arms white, forearms light gray with a chestnut shine. Hands and feet are slate-gray. Crown is dark gray, with a chestnut band over the forehead. A very dark slate-gray marking on face runs from forehead over nose to mouth and chin, in contrast to wide yellow eye-rings that are not completely closed on nose. Sides of head, in front of ears, are white; ears are flesh-colored.
Habitat. Evergreen forest to other habitat types, extensively in semi-evergreen and mixed deciduous forest, and also dry deciduous dipterocarp forest, mixed bamboo— broadleaf forest, and coastal dry forest. Black-shanked Doucs are observed from sea level up to ¢.800 m.
Food and Feeding. The diet of Black-shanked Doucs depends on the forest type. It is very diverse, with no particularly favored species. Up to 152 plant species are exploited in southern Vietnam, including 117 for leaves, 42 for fruits, eleven for seeds, and one for its petioles. The 20 species eaten most often account for only ¢.2% of the diet. In dryer areas and at higher elevations in southern Vietnam, the diet comprises ¢.55% leaves, 30% seeds and fruits, and 15% flowers. In Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, east Cambodia, percentages are 40% leaves, 40% seeds, ¢.10% fruits, and 10% flowers. There is a significant association between time of day and food items selected for consumption. Seeds are exploited at the expense of all other food items in the early morning. Preferences change from leaves at midday to fruits in the afternoon. Males eat more seeds and fewer leaves than females. In southern Vietnam, relative amounts of leaves and fruits between morning and afternoon are nearly equal. There are differences in diets between dry and wet seasons, with 60% leaves, 20% flowers, and 17% fruits (3% other) in the dry season compared to 52% leaves, 14% flowers, and 34% fruits in the wet season.
Breeding. Offspring of Black-shanked Douc appear to be born throughout the year.
Activity patterns. The Black-shanked Douc is diurnal and arboreal. They become active shortly before sunrise, ¢.05:30 h, and begin the day with intense bouts of feeding that decrease later in the morning and are followed by resting, predominantly from 10:00 h until 14:00 h. There is a second period of activity in late afternoon. After 18:00 h, activities cease and individuals prepare for sleep. The daily activity budget of a group, including both sexes and all ages except infants, averages 61% resting, 27% feeding, 7% traveling, 3% engaging in social behavior, and 2% engaging in other activities. During the wet season, more time is spent resting (62%) and less feeding (23%) compared to the dry season with 55% and 31%. Black-shanked Doucs occasionally go to the ground to move or drink water. In one coastal population in southern Vietnam, groups spend up to 20% of the day on large granite boulders. Quadrupedal locomotion dominates their movements (61%), followed by leaping (17%), brachiating (10%), climbing (8%), and dropping (free-falling) to lower levels of the canopy (4%).
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is little information about home ranges of Black-shanked Doucs. One study indicated they are c.20 ha, but most probably larger, up to 30-50 ha. Daily travel distances are 700-1200 m. Groups in lowquality habitat travel farther. Large trees are used as sleeping sites, sometimes close to rivers. Groups are typically unimale-multifemale. Their size differs in different habitats. In two protected areas in South Vietnam, groups averaged 13 individuals (range 3-22) and ten individuals (5-15). In east Cambodia, average group size is 7-5 individuals. Males outside these groups are solitary or live in all-male groups. Groups come together in a fission-fusion behavior forming larger bands of up to 50 individuals. These bands might spread out over a diameter of ¢.100 m and move as if they are one group. An all-male group has been seen with at least 17 individuals. In the Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area of Cambodia, the population density of Black-shanked Doucsis 1-2 groups/km?.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Black-shanked Douc is protected by law in Cambodia and Vietnam. Although once thought to be rare with a limited distribution, or even extinct, recent fieldwork has demonstrated that populations are quite widespread and found in a variety of habitats. There are few data available from Cambodia, but one robust population estimate from Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area was ¢.6000 groups, or a population of ¢.42,000 individuals. Populations in Vietnam have suffered a massive decline, and are now very fragmented. Probably one of the largest populationsis that in Nui Chua National Park, Ninh Thuan Province, with 500-700 individuals; other populations occur in Cat Tien National Park in Dong Nai Province, Bi Dup Nui Ba Nature Reserve in Lam Dong Province, and in areas that are contiguous with protected areas in Cambodia. Hunting, mainly for traditional medicine,is the main threat. Destruction of natural habitatis also a threat; a large portion in central and southern Vietnam suffers from conversion of forest to farmland. Logging and clear-cutting for coffee, rubber, and cashew plantations have reduced natural habitats of the Black-shanked Douc. Most forests at low elevations have been cleared, and very little forest remains undisturbed.
Bibliography. Clements et al. (2008), Fooden (1996), Groves (2001), Hoang Minh Duc (2007), Hoang Minh Duc & Baxter (2006), Hoang Minh Duc et al. (2009), Jablonski (1995), Liedigk et al. (2012), Mey (2010), Nadler (2008), Nadler & Streicher (2004), Nadler, Momberg et al. (2003), Nadler, Vu Ngoc Thanh & Streicher (2007), Pham Nhat (2002), Rawson (2006, 2010a, 2010b), Roos (2004), Roos & Nadler (2001), Roos et al. (2007).
description: Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Cercopithecidae, pp. 550-755 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 726-727, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6867065