Ruminant-Like Digestion of

Asian Colobine Genus

Trachypithecus
Indra Purnama
(P0503202006)
Caton JM. 1999. Digestive Strategy of the Asian Bauchop T, Martucci RW. 1968. Ruminant-Like
Colobine Genus Trachypithecus. Primates. 40(2): Digestion of the Langur Monkey. Science.
311-325. doi: 10.1007/BF02557555 161(3842): 698-700. doi:
10.1126/science.161.3842.698

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 Order • PRIMATES

Suborder • HAPLORHINI

Infraorder • SIMIIFORMES

Parvorder • CATARRHINI
Superfami • CERCOPITHECOIDEA
ly
Genus Trachypithecus Family • CERCOPITHECIDAE

(Reichenbach, 1862) Subfamily • COLOBINAE

• Trachypithecus (Reichenbach,
Genus
• Lutung 1862)
• Langur
• Leaf monkeys
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 Colobus

Semnopithecus
Tripartite
stomach
Trachypithecus

Colobines
Presbytis

Procolobus

Rhinopithecus
Quadripartite
stomach
Pygathrix

Nasalis

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Gastro-Intestinal
Morphology

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Methods
Paper 1
• Specimen of GIT from Trachypithecus
obscurus & T. cristatus.
• Specimen preserved in a solution of 5%
formalin
• T. obscurus specimen → adult male
(Adelaide Zoo)
• T. cristatus specimen → juvenile
(Singapore Zoo)

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Results
Gastro-intestinal Morphology

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Ruminant-like Digestion
• Stomach: saccus gastricus; tubus gastricus;
pars pylorica
• Esophageal groove : ingested liquids →
middle compartment of the stomach
• Cellulose-digesting bacteria for fermentation
(no protozoal flora)
 Gram-positive coccus
 Gram-negative rod → Bacteroides
 Methanogenic bacteria → Methanobacterium
ruminantium
• pH of gastric contents → 5.0 – 6.7
• Stomach contents = VFA, NH3, CO2, CH4, H2

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Digesta Marker Passage
Studies

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Methods
• T. obscurus & T. cristatus from Adelaide & Singapore • Extracting Cr & Co → wet-ashing technique
Zoos
• Measuring Cr & Co conct. → atomic absorption
• Digesta markers = Co-EDTA & Cr-CWC
spectrometer (Var. model AA/400P)
• Two T. obscurus → 10-yr-old male (7 kg) & 4-yr-old • Concentration to estimate
female (5 kg) → housed together
• Transit time
• Diet = mixture of fruit & vegetables, and Zoo’s primate cake
(in late morning) • Time of peak excretion (Tmax)
• Digesta markers = 0,40 g Cr-CWC & 0,25 g Co-EDTA • Mean Retention Time (MRT)
• Collecting faeces = full 24-h period for the 1 st 3 days
• Five T. cristatus → male 1 (dominant male), male 5
(subadult), male 3, female 2 & 4 (juvenile) → housed
individually  Mi = amount of marker excreted in the i defecation at
time Ti
• Diet = banana, pear, apple, little papaya, bananas, primate cake
(in the morning & late afternoon)  n = total number of defaecations
• Digesta marker = estimate of the body mass • Differences in the MRT → paired t-test (Ms Excel 4.0)
• Collecting faeces = 08.00, 12.00, 16.00

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Results
T. obscurus

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T. cristatus

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Discussion

• Retention of digesta within fermentation

compartments to allow time for microbial
degradation of structural polysaccharides is
characteristic of the digestive strategies of
herbivores.
• The results of other studies of digestive
physiology of colobines support the hypothesis
that both the stomach and the proximal colon are
important sites of fermentation in these monkeys.

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 • Digestive strategy used members of the genus
Trachypithecus is gastro-colic fermentation
• The high numbers of cellulose-digesting bacteria
in langur stomach contents suggest that structural
carbohydrates may serve as an important energy
source. The bacterial biosynthetic capacities may
also benefit the vitamin and nitrogen economy of
the host.
• The differences in gastric morphology and the
longer MRTs recorded for colobines indicate that
Conclusion both the forestomach and the proximal hindgut
function as fermentation chambers

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Thank You
Indra Purnama
+62 895 2334 3278
indra_Purnama@apps.ipb.ac.id