Shane Miller, age 11, of St. Paul, Minn., for his question:
WHAT IS THE PROBOSCIS MONKEY LIKE?
This fellow stands out in a crowd of ordinary monkeys. Instead of chattering and swinging through the trees, we are likely to spot him sitting quietly on a bough, dreamily gazing off into space. Unlike other monkeys, he likes to swim. And also unlike other monkeys, he has a most outstanding nose.
The word proboscis means a long, pliable nose, such as the elephant's trunk. Most monkeys have flat noses, usually with rather wide nostrils. But the leaf eating langur monkeys have more human shaped noses and one of them has a nose that can be termed a proboscis. He spends his entire life in the tropical trees of Borneo.
The mother's little baby has a turned up nose. The young adult has a pliable nose flap, perhaps three inches long. The proboscis of an elderly male may be seven inches long, with the tip drooping down over his mouth. He is not a talkative monkey, though his remarkable proboscis enables him to trumpet a resounding honk kee honk.
Some 20 leaf eating langurs inhabit various territories throughout India and Southeast Asia. Most of them stay in the treetops, where they live on a meatless menu of assorted vegetation. They tend to favor rather gaudy outfits, with bright patches of fur and bare skin. Several species have small nose flaps or funny turned up noses.
The proboscis monkey wears a shaggy coat of red fur, set off with a pearly gray tinge in his sleeves and nose. His head and body are about two and a half feet long. His monkey¬type tail is used for balancing, unlike the prehensile tails of New World monkeys.
He shares his life with a troop of 20 or so friends and relatives, including several other males. These monkeys prefer a home where the damp forest dips down to a mango swamp ¬for they are just about the only monkeys in the world who really enjoy the water. They go for a dip almost every day and the frisky youngsters often dive down from a bough 50 feet above the water.
Up in the treetops these smallish monkeys can perch on the slender twigs, which makes them safe from large predators. This changes when they descend to the ground. However, when danger approaches, the old male trumpets a warning honk kee honk. The stragglers dive into the water and paddle away like a group of panicky puppies.