Rhinopithecus

Rhinopithecus is the genus of the snub-nosed monkeys, a group of Old World monkeys that makes up the whole of the genus. The genus is rare and not fully researched, and some taxonomists group the snub-nosed monkeys together with the douc genus Pygathrix. The animals live in Asia, with a range covering southern China, especially Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and extending into the northern parts of Myanmar and Vietnam, where they inhabit mountain forests at elevations of more than 4,000 metres. They are named for the short stump of a nose on a round face, with the nostrils arranged forward, and they have relatively multicoloured, long fur, particularly over the shoulders and back. They grow to a length of 51 to 83 centimetres with a tail of 55 to 97 centimetres. Family units of one male with several females, along with all-male bachelor groups, form cohesive larger groups of roughly 76 to 400 animals, and the diet consists mainly of tree needles, bamboo buds, fruits and leaves. The golden and black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys are both endangered, while the other three species are critically endangered.