Vervet monkey relatives

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Vervet monkey relatives
Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus sp.)

Vervet Monkey ( Chlorocebus sp. )

Systematics
Order : Primates (Primates)
Subordination : Dry- nosed primates (Haplorrhini)
Partial order : Monkey (anthropoidea)
without rank: Old World Monkey (Catarrhini)
Superfamily : Tailed old world monkeys
Family : Vervet monkey relatives
Scientific name of the  superfamily
Cercopithecoidea
JE Gray , 1821
Scientific name of the  family
Cercopithecidae
JE Gray , 1821
Subfamilies
The mandrill is one of the largest representatives of this group.

The vervet monkey relatives or dog monkeys (Cercopithecidae) are a primate family . They form the only recent family of the tailed old world monkeys (Cercopithecoidea). With around 160 species, they form the most species-rich primate family. Vervet monkeys are common in large parts of Africa and Asia , they all live in groups with complex social structures. They divide into two subfamilies, the cheekbones monkeys and the slippery monkeys and colobus monkeys . Among the best known representatives include monkeys , the baboons , the macaques , the mandrill , the colobus monkeys , the langur and the proboscis monkey .

features

General build and coat

Vervet monkeys are relatively large, heavily built animals. The head body lengths vary from 32 to 110 centimeters, the tail - if available - can be up to 103 centimeters long. The tail is not used as a grasping tail, but serves to maintain balance. However, there are also tailless representatives such as the Barbary macaque . The lightest representatives are the pygmy monkeys , which only weigh a good 1 kilogram, while the mandrill can weigh over 50 kilograms. Most species have a marked sex dimorphism in weight - the males sometimes become twice as heavy as the females. Sometimes there are also differences in the color of the fur, for example in the case of the baboon .

The fur is usually kept in gray, brown or black tones. Its length depends on the habitat, many species have a mop of hair, whiskers or a mane on the shoulders and back. The palms of the hands and soles of the feet are hairless, as are often the buttocks region, on which there are often brightly colored seat calluses.

The front legs are usually shorter than the rear legs, especially in the colobus and colobus monkeys. Hands and feet each terminating in five fingers, each with a nail are provided. The thumb can be opposed , if present: in the colobus monkeys it is regressed. The first toe can also be opposed.

Head and teeth

Head of a baboon : the elongated, dog-like snout is easy to see.

The head is rounded and the cranial cavity is usually relatively large. The face is often hairless and mostly dark in color, with the exception of the colorful countenance of male mandrills. The snout is stretched forward in some species, which gives the impression of being like a dog.

The nostrils are close together and point downwards, which distinguishes them as narrow- nosed monkeys from the New World monkeys , which are also called broad-nosed monkeys . Facial muscles are well developed, facial expressions and grimaces play an important role in communication.

The tooth formula for all types is I 2 - C 1 - P 2 - M 3, so a total of 32 teeth. The incisors are wide in the cheekbones monkeys and narrow in the colobus and colobus monkeys. The upper canine teeth are elongated like a tusk, the lower ones slightly curved inwards and backwards. The canines are mainly used for showing off, but also for catching prey in the omnivorous species. Often times, males have longer canine teeth than females. The molars are bilophodontically built, that is, they have anterior and posterior pairs of cusps, which are connected by a transverse yoke. This special structure of the molars could have been the key feature for the evolutionary success of this group. The molar cusps are higher and sharper in the colobus and colobus monkeys than in the cheekbones.

The name-giving feature of the cheek pouch monkeys are the expandable cheek pouches .

distribution and habitat

The barbary macaque is the only non-human primate species living in the wild in Europe.

Vervet monkeys are native to almost all of Africa (but not Madagascar ) and large parts of Asia , from the Arabian Peninsula to South Asia to East and Southeast Asia . The Barbary Macaque lives on Gibraltar and is therefore the only non-human primate species living in the wild in Europe . They have a larger range than all other primate families with the exception of humans, live further north (to Japan ) and further south-east (to Timor ) than all other groups.

Many species live in forests, but the range of habitats is wide and includes savannahs and mountainous regions. Some species, such as the snub-nosed monkey, are found at altitudes of up to 4500 meters and are among the most cold-tolerant primates, while others such as rhesus monkeys and Hanuman langurs have adapted to humans and live in large numbers in cities.

Way of life

Movement and activity times

Some vervet monkeys , such as the hussar monkey, lead a semi-terrestrial way of life, meaning they live both on the ground and in trees.

The way of life of the vervet monkey relatives is variable and also depends on the habitat. There are strictly tree-dwelling species that hardly ever come to the ground, as well as a number of semi-terrestrial species that live partly on the ground and partly in the trees. The most pronounced soil dweller is the Jelada . The locomotion usually takes place on the ground as well as in the trees in four-footed gait, they can only rise briefly on their hind legs. The tree-dwelling long-tailed monkeys and colobus monkeys can also jump or move suspensively (hanging from the branches). Many vervet monkey relatives are good swimmers, the proboscis monkey and the swamp monkey , which can also submerge in danger , are worth mentioning .

Vervet monkeys are almost exclusively diurnal. In many cases, however, otherwise ground-dwelling species also retreat into the trees to sleep, others use inaccessible cliffs or caves for this purpose.

Social behavior

Long-tailed macaques live in groups like all other monkey relatives.

Vervet monkey relatives usually live in groups and also show complex social behavior. There are two group forms, on the one hand the one-man or harem group, in which a single male gathers several females around him and does not tolerate rivals, and on the other hand the multi-male groups, in which several males live together with many females, but the females usually clearly in the Are outnumbered. Leftover males live in bachelorette groups or sometimes solitary. Some species also show a flexible fission-fusion system: a larger group often divides into smaller subgroups, for example when foraging for food, in order to come together again later, for example to sleep. Since the females, unlike the males, usually do not leave their birth group, but stay there for their entire life, a circle of closely related females usually forms the core of a group. A ranking is established within the females , which is based, among other things, on ancestry. If several males live in a group, they too form a hierarchy. These rankings apply, among other things, to access to food resources and reproduction. The only monogamous species in this family is likely to be the Mentawai langur .

The animals communicate with each other using a variety of sounds, facial expressions, and postures.

food

Mantled monkeys, like many long-tailed monkeys and colobus monkeys, mainly feed on leaves.

The two subfamilies of the vervet monkey relatives have adapted to different diets.

The cheekbones monkeys are omnivores with an emphasis on fruits. In addition, they also consume seeds, nuts, leaves, flowers, roots, tubers and other plant parts as well as insects and other invertebrates and small vertebrates. The name-giving feature is the expandable cheek pouches in which you can store food in order to chew it later in peace.

The slippery monkeys and colobus monkeys, on the other hand, are almost exclusively herbivores and often primarily eat leaves. In addition, they also eat flowers and fruits and other things, insects and other animals eat them occasionally at best. In order to be able to process the food better, especially the leaves that are difficult to digest, they have developed a multi-chambered stomach analogous to that of ruminants . In contrast to the cheek pouch monkeys, however, they have no cheek pouches.

Reproduction

Hanuman langur with young animal

The mating behavior of the vervet monkey relatives is flexible and depends on the group form. In most cases there is no set mating season. In animals in harem groups, the male mates with all the females in his group and watches over them meticulously. In multi-male groups, all males can often mate with all females, but the higher-ranking ones are often used.

After a gestation period of around six to seven months, the female usually gives birth to a single young. Young animals often differ from adults by having a differently colored coat, which only loses itself over the course of several months. In the second half of the year, the young are weaned and are sexually mature at around three to eight years of age, females often a little earlier than males. These animals can live to be 50 years old in captivity.

Vervet monkey relatives and humans

Rhesus monkeys have adapted to humans and often live in cities.

Some vervet monkey relatives have adapted to being close to humans and are often found in cities. These include Hanuman langurs and rhesus monkeys in India, with a religious component also coming into play here.

In contrast, many species, especially forest-dwelling species, are threatened in their existence. The progressive destruction of their habitat, often combined with hunting for their meat ( bushmeat ) or because of the alleged healing powers of their body parts, has brought some species to the verge of extinction.

Some species used in animal experiments , such as the rhesus monkey and the long-tailed macaque, are important for humans .

Systematics

External system and history of development

The vervet monkey relatives are counted among the old world monkeys within the dry-nosed monkeys . Her sister group are the Humans . This is expressed in the following cladogram:

 Primates (Primates)  
  Dry-   nosed monkey (Haplorhini) 

 Koboldmakis (Tarsiidae)


  Monkey  (anthropoidea)  

 New World Monkey (Platyrrhini)


  Old   World Monkey (Catarrhini) 

 Human (Hominoidea)


   

 Tailed Old World Monkey (Cercopithecoidea)





   

 Wet-nosed monkey (Strepsirrhini)



The superfamily of the tailed old world monkeys includes, in addition to today's monkey relatives, some extinct taxa such as the Victoriapithecidae and the Prohylobatidae .

The Radiation Cercopithecidae started molecular genetic studies show that only in geologically recent times, in the course of the Middle to Upper Miocene . Previously, other groups of old world monkeys and also human species were widespread in greater diversity, today the vervet monkeys make up the dominant primate fauna of Asia and Africa. However, fossil records of the tailed Old World monkeys reach back to the Upper Oligocene and the Lower Miocene of eastern Africa. They are relatively rare and consist of a few teeth, including the around 22 million year-old Alophe finds from the Nakwai region in Kenya. The oldest fossils of the Cercopithecidae family come from the Tugen Hills in Kenya ; they have been dated to be 12.5 million years old.

Internal system

Brazzame cat
Gelada
Red colobus monkeys
Proboscis monkey

The family is divided into two subfamilies, cheekbones monkeys ( Cercopithecinae) and slippery monkeys and colobus monkeys (Colobinae). The former are omnivorous, have cheek pouches and a simply built stomach, while the latter are predominantly leaf eaters, have a complex stomach but no cheek pouches.

The vervet monkey relatives are divided into two subfamilies, each with two genus groups and a total of 23 genera with around 160 species:

The monophyly of the two subfamilies and the four tribe is largely beyond doubt, but within the tribe the lineages are often controversial.

literature

Web links

Commons : Meerkat Relatives  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Polina Perelman, Warren E. Johnson, Christian Roos, Hector N. Seuánez, Julie E. Horvath, Miguel AM Moreira, Bailey Kessing, Joan Pontius, Melody Roelke, Yves Rumpler, Maria Paula C. Schneider, Artur Silva, Stephen J. O'Brien and Jill Pecon-Slattery: Molecular Phylogeny of Living Primates. In: PLoS Genetics. 7 (3), 2011, p. E1001342, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pgen.1001342
  2. ↑ David Tab Rasmussen , Anthony R. Friscia, Mercedes Gutierrez, John Kappelman, Ellen R. Miller, Samuel Muteti, Dawn Reynoso, James B. Rossie, Terry L. Spell, Neil J. Tabor, Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch, Bonnie F. Jacobs, Benson Kyongo, Mathew Macharwas and Francis Muchemi: Primitive Old World monkey from the earliest Miocene of Kenya and the evolution of cercopithecoid bilophodonty. In: PNAS . 116 (13), 2019, pp. 6051-6056, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1815423116
  3. ↑ David Tab Rasmussen, Anthony R. Friscia, Mercedes Gutierrez, John Kappelman, Ellen R. Miller, Samuel Muteti, Dawn Reynoso, James B. Rossie, Terry L. Spell, Neil J. Tabor, Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch, Bonnie F. Jacobs, Benson Kyongo, Mathew Macharwas and Francis Muchemi: Correction for Rasmussen et al., Primitive Old World monkey from the earliest Miocene of Kenya and the evolution of cercopithecoid bilophodonty. In: PNAS. 116 (24), 2019, p. 12109, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1907208116
  4. ↑ James B. Rossie, Christopher C. Gilbert and Andrew Hill: Early cercopithecid monkeys from the Tugen Hills, Kenya. In: PNAS. 110 (15), 2013, pp. 5818-5822, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1213691110