Mentawai Langur

• Common Names: Mentawai Langur, Long-Tailed Langur, Gold-bellied Mentawai Island Langur, Mentawai Lutung, or Mentawai Leaf Monkey
• Taxonomy Classification Year: 1856
• Monkey Size: 46 to 51 cm (18 to 20 in)
• Skin Color(s): Black
• Habitat: Forest, rainforest
• Diet: Herbivorous
• Native Countries: Indonesia

The Mentawai langur^[1] (Presbytis potenziani) is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family.

• The primate is also called the Long-Tailed Langur, Gold-Bellied Mentawai Island Langur, Mentawai Lutung, or Mentawai Leaf Monkey.
• It is native to the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia. The pelage of Mentawai langur is medium length, longer on the back of the shoulders and anterior of the flanks and shorter on the face, neck, abdomen, and under the thighs.
• It is usually reasonably recumbent, running distally down the limbs and tail.
• The dorsal hair on the head and body is directed backward except for a small patch on the crown of the head, which is erect and directed slightly forward.
• The facial skin pigmentation in Mentawai langur has been described as “black, fading to dark fleshy around the mouth“.
• The shortness of the hair between the eyes and the nostrils makes them inconspicuous on the skin pigmentation. As a result, their color is difficult to distinguish but appears to be whitish.
• The rest of the dorsal fur of Mentawai langur is mainly blackish, except for the tip of the tail, where there is an individual variation with whitish hairs.

• Like the genus Presbytis in general, Mentawai langur is active during the day or diurnal, arboreal (occupies mainly mid and upper canopy areas), and has a quadrupedal, dependent, jumping locomotion system.
• Animals in the genus Presbytis are generally polygamous, but Presbytis potenziani is quite unique in that a monogamous mating system exists within the group.
• The average size of Mentawai langur troops is 3-4, including a pair and their young.
• The stomach is large and multi-chambered, and the forestomach houses bacteria that can digest cellulose.
• According to the 2016 IUCN Red List, the Mentawai langur is vulnerable as its population declines due to hunting activities and habitat destruction.