Kipunji monkey
| Kipunji monkey | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kipunji monkey ( Rungwecebus kipunji ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Rungwecebus | ||||||||||||
| Davenport , Stanley , Sargis , De Luca , Mpunga , Machaga & Olsen , 2006 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Rungwecebus kipunji | ||||||||||||
| ( Jones et al., 2005) |
The Kipunji ( Rungwecebus kipunji ), simply Kipunji or Hochlandmangabe called, is a primate from the group of Cercopithecidae (Cercopithecidae). It was first described scientifically in 2005 and only inhabits two small areas in southern Tanzania .
features
Kipunji monkeys probably reach a head body length of 85 to 90 centimeters, plus a tail of about the same length. The weight is 10 to 16 kilograms. Their fur is relatively long and usually gray-brown or reddish-brown in color. The forearms are darker, the hands and feet are black, and the abdomen and rear half of the tail are colored white. The black face is framed by long cheek hair and a long head of hair on the crown.
distribution and habitat
These primates are known from two localities in southern Tanzania. On the one hand they occur in the area of Mount Rungwe and the Livingstone Mountains (Rungwe-Livingstone Region), on the other hand they occur 350 kilometers away in the Udzungwa Mountains . Their habitat are mountain forests, in the Udzungwa Mountains between 1300 and 1750 meters above sea level and in the Rungwe-Livingstone region between 1750 and 2450 meters above sea level. The long fur is an adaptation to the sometimes low temperatures in the mountainous countries.
Way of life
Little is known about the way of life of these animals. They are tree dwellers and live in groups of 30 to 36 animals. Unique among the primates are their screams, which are described as honk-bark ("barking horns"). The females show like the other Pavia-like one usually swelling .
Kipunji monkeys and humans
In 2003 and 2004, two independent research teams discovered a population of previously unknown primates. The first description was in 2005, it was the first discovered in Africa primate since the sun-tailed monkey in 1984. The name "Kipunji" comes from the name of the living in the Rungwe-Livingstone region Nyakyusa for these animals.
As soon as it is discovered, the Kipunji monkey is already threatened with extinction. In their area of distribution, they are endangered by the clearing of forests and mining. The remaining habitat covers only about 70 km² in the Rungwe-Livingstone region and only 3 km² in the Udzungwa Mountains. The total population is estimated at around 500 individuals, 16 groups are known in the Rungwe-Livingstone region and 3 groups in the Udzungwa Mountains. The IUCN lists the species as " critically endangered ".
Systematics
When it was first described, the species was classified in the genus of the Schwarzm Details ( Lophocebus ) and referred to as the Hochlandm Details. However, a study by T. Davenport and others came to the conclusion that this species is the only representative of a new genus, Rungwecebus , which is more closely related to the genus of baboons ( Papio ). The generic name is derived from the place where the holotype was found , Mount Rungwe.
literature
- T. Jones, CL Ehardt, TM Butynski, TR Davenport, NE Mpunga, SJ Machaga, DW De Luca: The highland mangabey Lophocebus kipunji: a new species of African monkey. In: Science. Volume 308, number 5725, May 2005, pp. 1161–1164, doi : 10.1126 / science.1109191 , PMID 15905399 .
- TR Davenport, WT Stanley, EJ Sargis, DW De Luca, NE Mpunga, SJ Machaga, LE Olson: A new genus of African monkey, Rungwecebus: morphology, ecology, and molecular phylogenetics. In: Science. Volume 312, Number 5778, June 2006, pp. 1378-1381, doi : 10.1126 / science.1125631 , PMID 16690815 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rungwecebus kipunji in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Davenport, TRB & Jones, T., 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008 ..
