The gray langurs are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus Semnopithecus. The species are large and fairly terrestrial, inhabiting open wooded habitats and urban areas on the Indian subcontinent. Until recently they were considered one species, Semnopithecus entellus; now seven distinct species are recognized. When only one species was recognized, it was also called the Hanuman Langur (named after the Hindu vanara divinity Hanuman), the Common Langur and the Entellus Langur. In Sri Lanka, it is natively known as the Wanderoo.

Possible Advertisement

Black faces: They are largely grey, with a black face. Males are up to 75 cm long, and females 65 cm. Langurs from the southern part of their range are smaller than those from the north.

Grey langurs feed on leaves, fruit, buds and flowers. They spend most of their time on the ground. They are diurnal and usually walk on all fours.

They live in medium to large groups, usually with one dominant male. Adolescent males who are expelled from the group sometimes form 'bachelor' packs. These packs, after a time, start to harass the group that expelled them, and challenge the alpha for leadership of the pack. If an attack by a bachelor pack is successful and they are able to kill the alpha, they will engage in a power struggle, where first all of the infants fathered by the previous alpha are killed, and then the bachelors fight among themselves, killing each other until only one remains, who then becomes the leader of the pack.

• Nepal Gray Langur, Semnopithecus schistaceus
• Kashmir Gray Langur, Semnopithecus ajax
• Tarai Gray Langur, Semnopithecus hector
• Northern Plains Gray Langur, Semnopithecus entellus
• Black-footed Gray Langur, Semnopithecus hypoleucos
• Southern Plains Gray Langur, Semnopithecus dussumieri
• Tufted Gray Langur, Semnopithecus priam

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License