Lori A. Baldwin

Field research on langur and proboscis monkeys: An historical, geographical, and bibliographical listing

This is the fourth in a series of reports about field research on the ethology and ecology of nonhuman primates. Previous reports have covered: (a) the African baboons, drills and geladas (BALDWIN & TELEKI, 1972) ; (b) the African apes (BALDWIN & TELEKI, 1973); and (c) the Asian apes (BALDWIN & TELEKI, 1974). The current listing for the Asian colobine monkeys--namely, langurs and proboscis monkeys-was planned and compiled together with another listing on the African colobine and cercopithecine monkeys. This latter listing will be the next report in the series. Although various African baboon types, as well as Asian and North African macaques, are not to be excluded from the Cercopithecidae family, we nonetheless elected to treat the baboon and macaque research separately for behavioral and ecological reasons, and also because studies on these genera are extremely numerous. We have, in turn, separated the Asian colobines from the African colobines/cercopithecines in order to maintain geographical identity. The five genera of Asian colobines (Presbytis, Nasalis, Simias, Pygathrix, Rhinopithecus) have by no means received equal amounts of attention from field investigators. In fact, only the former three genera have been or are being studied in natural conditions. The various Presbytis species have received by far the most intensive and extensive attention, while Nasalis and particularly Simias remain by comparison very poorly documented. As in the case of primatological research in other world regions, projects on the Asian colobines----especially on Presbytis--began in the early 1950s, underwent rapid expansion during the 1960s, and may be showing signs of tapering off in the 1970s.