CreatureData

Purple-faced langur

Semnopithecus vetulus (Erxleben, 1777)

ENEndangeredprimates

The purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus) is a species in the family Cercopithecidae, order Primates. Recorded adults weigh 5.18 kg to 8.83 kg and live up to 24.5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus)
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the purple-faced langur

Weight
5.18 kg – 8.83 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
24.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
26.1 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
211 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
3.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
0.4src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
By day (diurnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the purple-faced langur live?

Not recorded

What is the purple-faced langur?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus), also known as the purple-faced leaf monkey, is a species of Old World monkey that is endemic to Sri Lanka. The animal is a long-tailed arboreal species, identified by a mostly brown appearance, dark face (with paler lower face) and a very shy nature. The species was once highly prevalent, found in suburban Colombo and the "wet zone" villages (areas with high temperatures and high humidity throughout the year, whilst rain deluges occur during the monsoon seasons), but rapid urbanization has led to a significant decrease in the population level of the monkeys. It had traditionally been classified within the genus Trachypithecus but was moved to the genus Semnopithecus based on DNA evidence indicating that is it more closely related to the gray langurs.

In Sinhala, it is known as ශ්‍රී ලංකා කළු වඳුරා [kalu ʋaⁿd̪uraː] (Sri Lanka black monkey).

From the Wikipedia article “Purple-faced langur” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Purple-faced_langur&oldid=1356935343), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the purple-faced langur endangered?

The purple-faced langur is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.

How is the purple-faced langur classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderPrimates
  5. familyCercopithecidae
  6. genusSemnopithecus
  7. SpeciesSemnopithecus vetulus (Erxleben, 1777)

Synonyms Macaca vetulus, Trachypithecus vetulus

Other names and names in other languages (22)
  • Purple-faced leaf monkeyEnglish
  • Purple-faced lutungEnglish
  • لنغور ذو الوجه الأرجوانيArabic
  • Langur de Cara PorpradaCatalan
  • hulman rudolícíCzech
  • WeißbartlangurGerman
  • Μωβ ΛανγκούρGreek
  • Langur De Cara RojaSpanish
  • purppuranaamalanguriFinnish
  • Semnopithèque BlanchâtreFrench
  • bíborarcú langurHungarian
  • Langur dalla faccia violaItalian
  • Presbite dalla faccia violaItalian
  • カオムラサキラングールJapanese
  • CeylonlangurNorwegian Bokmål
  • HvitskjegglangurNorwegian Bokmål
  • WitbaardlangoerDutch
  • lutung białobrodyPolish
  • Langur-RoxoPortuguese
  • Краснолицый гульманRussian
  • කළු වඳුරාSinhala
  • 紫臉葉猴Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the purple-faced langur

Other species in the same genus Semnopithecus.

ComparePurple-faced langur vs Northern plains gray langurPurple-faced langur vs Kashmir gray langurPurple-faced langur vs Nepal gray langurPurple-faced langur vs Black-footed gray langur

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the purple-faced langur?

An adult purple-faced langur weighs 5.18 kg – 8.83 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the purple-faced langur endangered?

The purple-faced langur is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the purple-faced langur live?

The purple-faced langur has a recorded lifespan of 24.5 years.

How long is the purple-faced langur pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 211 days.

What kind of animal is the purple-faced langur?

The purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus) belongs to the family Cercopithecidae in the order Primates.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-faced-langur

MLA

“Purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-faced-langur.

BibTeX
@misc{purple_faced_langur_2026,
  title = {Purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/purple-faced-langur},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}