Semnopithecus melalophus (Le Cimepaye), F. Cuv., Hist. Nat., Mammif., livr. xxx. (July, 1821); Raffles, Tr. Linn. Soc., xxii., p. 245 (1822); Desmar., Dict. Sc. Nat., xlviii., p. 38 (1827); Martin, Mammif. Anim., p. 470 (1841); Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 16 (1851); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 16 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 43 (1876; in part); Anders., Zool. Res. Exped. Yun-nan, p. 34 (with full synonymy; 1878).
Semnopithecus flavimanus, Lesson, Cent. Zool., p. 109, pl. xl. (1830); Is. Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 16 (1851).
Semnopithecus sumatranus, var. auratus (nec Geoffr.), Müller and Schl. Verhandl., pl. x. bis, fig. 2 (1839-44).
Presbytes melanophus, Gray, Hand. List Mamm. Brit. Mus., p. 2 (1843).
Presbytes flavimana, Gray, t.c., p. 2 (1843).
Semnopithecus nobilis, Gervais, Hist. Nat., Mammif., p. 63 (1854); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 17 (1870).
Semnopithecus ferrugineus, Schl., Mus. Pays-Bas, vii., p. 42 (1876).
Characters.—Head crested; the crest dark-brown, tipped with dusky; forehead pale yellow; a line from the outer corner of the eye to the ear, dark brown; back, sides, and shoulders reddish, washed with pale brown; the rest of the fore-limbs, the whole of the hind-limbs, and the tail, orange-red. Length of body, 18 inches; of tail, 32 inches.
The golden variety (S. auritus) from Sumatra, is generally yellowish-red throughout.
The skulls present a good deal of variation in the form of the internal orbital angles of the frontal, and in the occipital, bones.