This document provides a classification of mammals and describes various primate species found in India. It begins with the high level classification of mammals such as Mammalia, Theria, Eutheria, Metatheria and Prototheria. It then describes characteristics and orders of marsupials and monotremes. The majority of the document focuses on describing characteristics, distributions and conservation statuses of various primate species found in India, including several species of macaques, langurs and gibbons.

1. Class
Mammalia
Theria
Eutheria
Metatheria
Prototheria
Sub class Infraclass

4. Order Monotremata
• Prototheria – Monotremata
• Egg laying mammals
• 2 family, 5 species

5. Characteristic features
• Large oocytes, big yolk,10mm in dia.
• Pouches- Incubator.
• Two months-in pouch- primitive mammary nodule
• Build of spine- eject
• Young obtain milk from mothers fur
Have evolutionary advancement over reptiles
• Nourishment from uterine endometrial gland
• Hatches fast- at early stage of development
• Lactation through mammary glands

6. Marsupials
• Metatheria – Marsupials
• Pouched mammals
• 7 orders

7. Features of marsupials
• Embryo develops rapidly- subsequent development in pouch
• Eggshell membrane are retained- semi permeable barrier between the
embryo and maternal tissue
• Lack trophoblast
• Modified reproductive cycle- Kangaroos – embryonic diapause
• Focussing all the resources on one at a time

8. Order Didelphimorphia
• American Opossums
• 1 family, 87 species
• North & South America

9. Order Paucituberculata
• Shrew Opossums
• 1 family, 6 species
• South America

10. Order Microbiotheria
• Monito del monte
• South America

11. Order Dasyuromorphia
• Carnivorous marsupials
• Includes quolls, dunnarts, the numbat and the Tasmanian devil
• 2 extant families, 70 species
• The extinct Tasmanian Wolf or Thylacine belonged to this order
• Australia

13. Order Paramelemorphia
• Bandicoots and bilbies
• Omnivorous marsupials
• 3 families, 21 species
• Australia and New Guinea

14. Eastern barred bandicoot
Greater Bilby

15. Order Notoryctemorphia
• Marsupial moles
• 1 family, 2 species
• Australia

16. Order Diprotodontia
• Includes kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, possums
• Most are herbivorous
• 11 families, 143 species
• Australasia

18. Eutheria – Placental Mammals

19. Order Afrosoricida
• Tenrecs (Southern Africa) and Golden Moles (Africa and Madagascar)
• 2 families, 51 species

20. Order Macroscelidea
• Elephant Shrews
• 1 family, 15 species
• Africa

21. Order Tubulidentata
• Aardwark
• Africa

22. Order Hyracoidea
• Hyraxes
• 1 family, 4 species
• Africa and the
Middle East

23. Order Cingulata
• Armadillos
• 1 family, 21 species
• America

24. Order Pilosa
• Sloths and Anteaters
• 4 families, 10 species
• America

25. Order Dermoptera
• Flying Lemurs or Colugos
• Arboreal gliding mammals
• 1 family, 2 species

26. PRIMATES

27. Cercopithecidae
• Old World Monkeys
• Medium-sized to large monkeys with long trunks, ischial callosities narrow
nasal opening and palate, dagger-like canines, molars with two ridges, and
tail lacking or short in some, long in most; males usually larges than females
• 90-180 cm
• Palearctic, Afrotropical and Indo-Malayan region
• 23 genera, 159 species

28. CERCOPITHECIDAE
CERCOPITHECINAE
Cheek-pouched
monkeys
PAPIONINI
Macaques,
mangabeys,
baboons
CERCOPITHECINI
Guenons, green
monkeys,
talapoins
COLOBINAE
Leaf-eating
monkeys
COLOBINI
colobus
PRESBYTINI
Langurs, doucs,
snub-nosed
monkeys

29. Mandrill

30. Gelada

31. Gelada

32. Angolan Colobus

33. Golden Snub-nosed Monkey

34. Lion-tailed Macaque Macaca silenus
• Endemic to Western Ghats
• Adult males are 33% larger than
adult females
• The face is all black and
surrounded by a large
characteristic grayish-brown cheek
and chin ruff
• Tail is 55-75% of the head-body
length and has a tuft of hair at the
end

35. • Fruits of Artocarpus and flowers and fruits of Cullenia exarillata
are important foods that are available through out the year
• Diurnal and arboreal
• Live in groups of 4-30 individuals
• EN

37. Northern Pig-tailed Macaque Macaca leonina
• Distinguished by deeply parted,
dark cap of short hair and short,
naked, erect tail, slightly curled at
the tip
• Sexually dimorphic
• Most arboreal and frugivorous of
north-eastern macaques
• VU

39. Bonnet Macaque Macaca radiata
• Distinguished by a cap or bonnet of long hair,
arranged in a whorl and parted clearly, and a very
long tail that is longer than body
• Face and ears are bare, with skin of adults being
brown to pinkish or bright scarlet in some females
• Males are larger and more heavily set than females

41. • M. r. radiata is common in places that have human habitation while M. r.
diluta is more a forest inhabitant
• Diet includes ripe fruits, seeds, flowers, shoots, animals etc.
• In urban areas they raid garbage dumps and home gardens

42. • M. r. radiata – Dark-bellied Bonnet Macaque
• M. r. diluta – Light-bellied Bonnet Macaque
• The former has grayish brown crown while the latter has pale yellowish-brown
crown.
• M. r. diluta has whitish ventral skin which largely lacks pigment (as opposed
to dark bluish gray ventral of radiate), hence the name light-bellied macaque

44. Assamese Macaque Macaca assamensis
• Is a heavy, thickset forest
macaque with a brownish
grey coat and pale venter
• It superficially resembles the
Rhesus but lacks the orange-
tinted posterior and has a
different tail carriage

45. • M. a. assamensis – Eastern Assamese Macaque
• M. a. pelops – Western Assamese Macaque
• M. a. pelops has a longer tail that is half the length of its head
and body, and twice the length of its hind foot while the other has
a shorter tail that is less than half or even a third of the length of
its head and body and only a little longer than its hind foot
• NT

47. Arunachal Macaque Macaca munzula
• A dark patch or whorl of hair on the
central crown, sometimes
surrounded by pale hairs, is
distinctive
• Dark brown face has a heavy jaw and
is not bearded like the Assamese
Macaque
• EN

49. Stump-Tailed Macaque Macaca arctoides
• Also known as the Bear Macaque
• Largest macaque species in India
• Unique crown of hair that radiates from a central whorl
and falls sleekly to the back of the head and reddish
pink face
• Prominent cheek pouches

50. • It has the shortest tail among macaques and is extremely
territorial by nature
• Males can be distinguished from females by their large size, large
genitalia and large canines
• Grows bald with age
• VU

52. Long-tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis
• M. f. umbrosus
• Also called the Crab-eating Macaque
• Found on the Nicobar Islands
• Has a long tail, short, stout legs and
a heavy bottom
• Adept swimmer, arboreal in inland
forests and more terrestrial on coasts
• VU

54. Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta
• Most widespread
• Brown in colour with fur varying from
very thick and dark to sparse sandy
brown
• Orangish tint to the fur in its
hindquarters and loins
• Carries its medium-sized tail erect with
a bend at the tip

56. • Dominance behavior by alpha males and sub-adults include threat
displays such as shaking tree branches (electric lines in cities)
• Most diverse habitat user – temple surrounds, urban, rural, village-
cum-pond, pond sides, road sides, canal sides and forests
• Hybridization with Assamese Macaque

58. Bengal Sacred Langur Semnopithecus entellus
• Northern Plains Langur
• Most widely spread langur in India
• It is a crestless, average-sized langur,
overall yellowish brown or pale
orange, ventrally suffused with buff
on the chest
• It is black-pawed up to the wrist and
has a forward-looped tail

59. • Male langurs possess harem and do not tolerate subadults or even
very young males in the troop. This makes it more peaceful
• Found in all habitats except desert, and also found near human
settlements

61. Chamba Sacred Langur Semnopithecus ajax
• A large hill langur, blunt headed,
maned, mauve-brown backed with
whitish venter and dark hands and
forearms.
• Dark silvery dorsal fur
• EN

63. Terai Sacred Langur Semnopithecus hector
• Medium-sized crestless
race, greyish brown on the
back and buff-white/pale
grey venter
• Distinctive grey moustache
on a black face and
uniformly pale grey hands

65. Nepal Sacred Langur Semnopithecus
schistaceus
• It is a maned, pale-pawed race similar in most
respects to the Terai Langur. It has a darker,
mauvish brown back than S. hector
• The ventral colour is whiter and the ruff
around the head can be heavy in higher
altitudes

67. Malabar Sacred Langur Semnopithecus
hypoleucos
• An average-sized crestless langur with a backward-
looped tail and limbs black below elbows and knees
• It has a brownish streak between the eye and the ear
• S. h. iulus – Black-legged Langur
• S. h. achates – Northern Malabar Langur
• S. h. hypoleucos – Travancore Langur
• VU

69. Tufted Gray Langur Semnopithecus priam
• It has a clear crest, the tips of
fingers are black in colour
• S. p. anchises – Central Indian Gray
Langur
• S. p. priam – Madras Gray Langur
• S. p. thersites – Srilankan Gray
Langur

71. 132. S. entellus
133. S. ajax
134. S.hector
135. S. schistaceus
136. S. hypoleucos
137. S. priam

72. Nilgiri Langur Semnopithecus johnii
• The most vocal of southern forest monkeys, its
characteristic ‘hoo-hoo’ call can be heard mostly at
dawn and sometimes at dusk
• Endemic to Western Ghats
• VU

74. Golden Langur Trachypithecus geei
• It has deep cream to off-
white fur in the non-breeding
season and golden orange or
deep golden fur in the
breeding season
• Infants are orange-brown with
pink faces, palms and soles
• EN

76. Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus
• Found in North East India
• Varying belly colouration used to
separate subspecies
• They live exclusively on trees and
seldom come down to ground
• VU

78. Phayre’s Langur Trachypithecus phayrei
• Also called Phayre’s
Leaf Monkey
• The male has circular
white rings compared
with the females
whose eye rings are
roughly triangular
• Infant is golden
coloured
• EN

80. Hylobatidae
• Gibbons
• Small to medium-sized apes with slender body, short trunk, broad
chest, very long arms, short legs, ischial callosities, short muzzle,
shallow face, long canine teeth, simple molar teeth, long, curved,
slender digits, robust thumb and big toe, coat nearly black to
almost cream and no external tail; no sexual dimorphism
• 40-90 cm
• Indo-Malayan region
• 4 genera, 19 species

81. Western Hoolock Gibbon Hoolock hoolock
• Second largest gibbon in the world
after the Siamang
• Gibbons are monogamous and are
thought to pair for life
• Male are uniform black and females
are uniform blonde in colour
• EN

83. Eastern Hoolock Gibbon Hoolock leuconedys
• Female is paler than Western
Hoolock and not uniformly
coloured
• Males have white genital tufts,
white eyebrows have distinct
gap
• VU