Mother and Child Dusky Leaf Monkeys! - Observation of the Week, 5/31/23
Our Observation of the Week is this mother and child Dusky Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus) pair, seen in Malaysia by @recklessmantis!
“I remember flipping over rocks to discover creepy crawlies underneath, catching bugs, and chasing crabs and mudskippers at the beach,” says Gerald Lim Dk, who hails from Penang Island in Malaysia. “Growing up as a millennial, I love watching wildlife documentaries on National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.”
Now he takes his own fantastic nature photos, which he posts to Instagram as well as iNat. Last November he was exploring a part of the island when he came across the pair of monkeys you see here. “The mother and child interaction was adorable and heart warming. I was smiling as I reviewed the shot. The adorable part is when the little one is playfully biting its own tail.”
Dusky leaf monkeys (also known as dusky langurs, among other names) occur throughout parts of southeast Asia, and often like to scavenge for leaves (and fruit, if it’s around) in the canopy. Females weigh about 6.5 kg (14.3 lbs), with males being a bit larger. Babies are born with orange fur that slowly becomes darker, although the adult fur coloration depends on the subspecies. The IUCN lists this species as endangered as it’s threatened by habitat loss and hunting.
Gerald (above) says iNat’s helped him a lot when it comes to finding species to look for. I got to know some species of birds that I didn't even know existed where I live. For example the Rufous Woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus) and the Velvet-Fronted Nuthatch (Sitta frontalis). I hope to see them someday.”
I'm not part of any research currently, [but] perhaps I'll be able to contribute in the near future because I have limited knowledge in nature overall. I just enjoy taking pictures of [wildlife], particularly mammals and birds or anything I could find during expeditions or solo walks.
(Photo of Gerald by Alexius LZL, aka @floatingkittem. Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.)
- Here’s an informational video about dusky leaf monkeys from Langur Project Penang.
- Speaking of mudskippers, here’s an oooold Observation of the Week featuring those very fish! Seen by @anil_kumar_verma.
Comments
Trachypithecus is truly an obscure genus, many new taxa have been described in recent years, and the most recent OOTW illustrates the unique nature of the leaf monkeys. I sometimes doubt if they can persist in this rapidly changing world, after all I've seen observations (uploaded by local naturalists in Sumatra) where leaf monkeys have been killed by farmers on here, certainly there's a need to secure their future on this planet earth.
A glorious shot, Gerald, aka @recklessmantis! thank you for letting us see these adorable monkeys. I wish you all the best with your nature observations, and I expect you will end up soon helping with someone's research.
Great observation! And I agree with the comment that iNat opens our eyes to what's close by that we haven't seen yet.
Wonderful creatures!...and very touching photos!
Amazing! I also use Sony RX10M4 - perfect camera. My Canon EOS gear including EOS R7 rests in the shelf unless I need supermacro. Cheers from Slovakia.
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