_Semnopithecus natunæ_, Oldfield Thomas and Hartert, Nov. Zool. i., p.
652 (1894).
CHARACTERS.--ADULT MALE.--Size, proportions, and coloration showing a
general resemblance to the _S. femoralis_ group, the prevailing colours
being black and white. While, however, the forehead, the fore-arms and
hands, lower legs and feet, and tail (both above and below) are all deep
glossy black, the back itself, with the occiput, nape, and shoulders, is
brown. Thighs along a narrow strip on their outer aspect, ashy grey,
darkening distally into the black of the lower legs, but their posterior
aspect, continuous with their inner sides, is perfectly white, giving a
very peculiar and characteristic appearance to the animal, and one which is
quite unlike any species known to us, with the one exception that _M.
siamensis_ has whitish patches in somewhat the same position. Whole of
under surface, with the sides of the neck, the hairs on the inside of the
ears, and lines down the inner sides of the arms and legs, pure creamy
white. Face thinly haired throughout, the hairs black, except those on the
nose, where there is a whitish patch. Forehead with the hairs radiating
outwards and backwards {130}from a single central point about half or
three-quarters of an inch behind the eyebrows; posteriorly these hairs are
much lengthened, as are those on the occiput, the latter being directed
forwards and upwards in such a way that the black hairs of the forehead and
the brown ones of the occiput meet to form a high crest on the crown.
(_Oldfield Thomas_ and _Hartert_, _l.c._).
YOUNG.--Messrs. Oldfield Thomas and Hartert describe a new-born specimen as
follows: "Middle line of dorsal surface from crown to anus, and whole of
tail, deep black, the breadth of the black on the back being about an inch
and a half; the outer sides of the shoulders greyish, and also the backs of
the hands and feet commencing to become black. The whole of the rest of the
animal, including the forehead, arms, and legs, wholly pure white."
"Although among the many closely allied species of _Semnopithecus_ it is
difficult to be at all sure of their mutual affinities, it would seem that
_S. natunæ_ is most nearly related to _S. femoralis_, Horsf., and _S.
siamensis_, M. and S. Both of these have a similar arrangement of the hairs
on the crown and nape; and, on the other hand, the former possesses the
wholly black hands, feet, and tail of _S. natunæ_, and to a certain extent
the browner tint of the back, while, on the other, _S. siamensis_ has its
whitish under side and light thigh-patch, although united with a widely
different coloration."
HABITS.--Mr. Everett gives the following note: "Native name 'K[)e]káh,'
which is onomatopoeic. These animals were common about the base of Mount
Ranai, going in troops, and they commit great depredations on the native
gardens. The irides are light cinnamon-brown; face livid black, the eyelids
and muzzle, {131}white; feet and hands very dark brown; the ears blackish
externally, the outer edge and interior dull white, marbled to some extent
with livid blackish spots. In an immature individual, barely half-grown,
the white of the eyelids, nose, and chin was tinged with dull pink; and at
the exterior angle of each orbit was a bare spot of bluish-white, showing
very distinctly, owing to its different tinge of colour, the skin of the
face otherwise being livid black. With maturity these naked white spots at
the angle of the orbits disappear. I kept this animal alive, intending to
bring it home, but it succumbed to the severity of our return passage. It
fed on the leaves of sweet potatoes and tapioca, and, although it had been
recently captured, in a few days it was very gentle and timid. The
breeding-season with these Monkeys is either very prolonged, or is not
defined at all, for I obtained them in October, when the rains were
beginning, in all stages, from a foetus three inches long, to half-grown
specimens."