Mantled monkey
| Mantled monkey | ||||||||||||
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Mantled monkey |
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| Colobus guereza | ||||||||||||
| Rüppell , 1835 |
The Mantelaffe or Guereza ( Colobus guereza ) is a primate from the group of Colobus within the family of Cercopithecidae (Cercopithecidae).
description
Mantled monkeys are large, relatively heavily built animals. Their fur has a striking black and white pattern: the basic color is black, the frame of the face, the U-shaped long "coat" on the shoulders and back, the outer sides of the hips and the bushy tail tassel are white. As with all colobus monkeys, the thumb has receded, which is interpreted as an adaptation to the tree-dwelling way of life. The face is gray and hairless, the nostrils are elongated and almost reach the mouth. Mantled monkeys reach a head body length of 50 to 67 centimeters, the bushy tail becomes 52 to 90 centimeters long. The weight varies between 7 and 14 kilograms, with the males being significantly heavier than the females.
distribution and habitat
Mantled monkeys are native to central Africa , their range extends from Nigeria to Ethiopia and Tanzania . Their habitat are forests or tree-lined savannas , where they occur in tropical rainforests as well as in dry and mountain forests up to over 3000 meters above sea level. They are most common in secondary forests and along rivers.
Way of life
Mantled monkeys are diurnal animals that mostly live in trees. If the trees are not close together, they will also move on the ground. They form harem groups of around 8 to 15 animals, which are composed of a male, two to six females and their young. Males sometimes form bachelorette groups, but they are not permanent. Mantled monkeys are territorial animals, one group lives in a territory of around 15 hectares. The groups draw attention to each other through roaring concerts by the males, if another group approaches their own territory, they are driven away by loud screams, aggressive gestures such as hopping and, if necessary, violence. However, sometimes several groups share a water source.
food
Mantled monkeys are pure herbivores, with immature leaves making up the majority of their diet. To a lesser extent, they also consume ripe leaves, fruits, and buds. They have a four-chambered stomach, with the two upper chambers serving as “fermentation chambers” with special bacteria to break down the cellulose; only then does the pre-digested food enter the lower stomachs, where it is further broken down. This digestive system is an adaptation to the nutrient-poor leaf food.
To eat, they sit on a branch and pull the branches towards them with their hands. Sometimes a group stays on a single tree for days.
Reproduction
In most cases, mating monkeys do not have a set mating season; births can occur all year round. In many regions, however, most of the births are timed so that the greatest food supply is available at the time of weaning. After a gestation period of around 175 days, the female usually gives birth to a single young. This is colored white and only develops the typical coat pattern of adults after a few months. It is common for a female to give her young to the other females in the group, even suckling other young has been observed. Weaning takes around six months.
Sexual maturity occurs at around four years of age in females and around six in males. Males have to leave their birth group shortly beforehand, while the females often stay in the same group.
Life expectancy in human care is up to 24 years.
People and guereza
The splendid Guereza skins , especially those of the mountain forms, found their way to Europe through hunting and trade in ancient times and to Asia in the Middle Ages . Even more recently, some African peoples used monkey skins as a decorative element. At the end of the 19th century, skins came into fashion as fur in the western world . For the year 1892 alone, 175,000 skins are documented for import into the European market.
threat
In the first half of the 20th century, the coat monkeys were hunted intensively because their skins were processed for fashion purposes. These hunts led to a decline in the population. In many suitable and protected areas, however, they are considered common, and in contrast to many other colobus monkey species, they are considered non-threatened.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
Web links
- Colobus guereza in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Butynski et al , 2000. Retrieved on 12 May, 2006.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephen R. Frost, Christopher C. Gilbert, Kelsey D. Pugh, Emily H. Guthrie, and Eric Delson: The Hand ofCercopithecoides williamsi (Mammalia, Primates): Earliest Evidence for Thumb Reduction among Colobine Monkeys. PLoS ONE 10 (5), 2015, p. E0125030, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0125030 .
- ↑ Erich Tylinek, Gotthart Berger: The great monkey book. Landbuch Verlag Hannover 1984, ISBN 978-3-7842-0289-1 , p. 171.