Editing Colobinae (section)

== Characteristics ==
[[File:NILGIRI LANGUR Trachypithecus johnii.jpg|thumb|250px|Colobines are mainly [[arboreal]] and [[folivorous]] primates. Adult [[Nilgiri Langur]] pictured.]]

Colobines are medium-sized [[primate]]s with long tails (except for the [[pig-tailed langur]]) and diverse colorations. The coloring of nearly all young animals differs remarkably from that of the adults.

Most species are [[arboreal]], although some live a more [[terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] life. They are found in many different habitats of different climate zones ([[rainforest]]s, [[mangrove]]s, mountain forests, and [[savannah]]), but not in deserts and other dry areas. They live in groups, but in social forms vary.

Colobines are [[folivore|folivorous]], though their diet may be supplemented with flowers, fruits and the occasional insect. To aid in digestion, particularly of hard-to-digest leaves, they have multichambered, complex stomachs, making them the only primates with [[foregut fermentation]]. Foregut fermenters use bacteria to detoxify plant compounds before reaching the intestine, where toxins can be absorbed. Foregut fermentation is also associated with higher protein extraction and efficient digestion of fiber;<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Edwards|first1=Mark S.|last2=Ullrey|first2=Duane E.|date=1999|title=Effect of dietary fiber concentration on apparent digestibility and digesta passage in non-human primates. II. Hindgut- and foregut-fermenting folivores|journal=Zoo Biology|language=en|volume=18|issue=6|pages=537–549|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1098-2361(1999)18:6<537::AID-ZOO8>3.0.CO;2-F|issn=1098-2361|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Feldhamer, George A.; Lee C. Drickamer; Stephen H. Vessey|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1097452280|title=Mammalogy : Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4214-3652-4|pages=128–130|publisher=JHU Press |oclc=1097452280}}</ref> it is the dominant form of digestions in diverse herbivore taxa, including most Artiodactyla (e.g., deer, cattle, antelope), sloths, and kangaroos. In contrast, lower diversity howler monkeys in the New World rely on hindgut fermentation – occurring lower in the colon or cecum – much like horses and elephants.<ref name=":0" /> Unlike the other subfamily of Old World monkeys, the [[Cercopithecinae]], they do not possess cheek pouches.

In the [[silvery lutung]] (''Trachypithecus cristatus'') and the [[Northern plains gray langur]] (''Semnopithecus entellus'') females begin reproducing after around 3 years of age.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dirks |first=Wendy |last2=Bowman |first2=Jacqui E. |date=September 2007 |title=Life history theory and dental development in four species of catarrhine primates |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248407001029 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=309–320 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.04.007|url-access=subscription }}</ref>