Nigeria blue-mouthed monkey
| Nigeria blue-mouthed monkey | ||||||||||||
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Nigeria blue-necked monkey ( Cercopithecus sclateri ) |
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| Cercopithecus sclateri | ||||||||||||
| Pocock , 1904 |
The Nigeria blue-mouthed monkey ( Cercopithecus sclateri ) is a species of primate from the genus of the monkeys ( Cercopithecus ) within the family of the vervet monkeys (Cercopithecidae).
features
Nigeria blue-mouthed monkeys are among the smaller monkeys, females reach an average weight of 2.5 kilograms and males 4 kilograms. Their fur is olive green on the top and gray on the underside. The blue face is surrounded by white-yellow tufts of hair on the cheeks, the top of the head is yellow and the throat is colored white. The ears have showy white tufts of hair.
distribution and habitat
Nigerian blue-mouthed monkeys are endemic to southern Nigeria east of the Niger River . Their habitat are wetlands or forests near rivers.
Way of life
These primates are diurnal tree dwellers. They live together in groups of up to 30 animals, which, as with all monkeys, represent harem groups. This means that these groups consist of a male, several females and their offspring. The food of the animals consists mainly of fruits , presumably like other representatives of their kind they also eat leaves, seeds and insects.
threat
The Nigeria blue-mouthed monkey was thought to be extinct before it was rediscovered in 1988. Today the population is split into five small residual groups, all of which make up less than 250 individuals. Two of these populations are protected because they are considered sacred by the local population, while the others have been subject to intensive hunting in some cases. Their settlement area is largely protected today, and thus protected against deforestation is nonetheless the way also because of the fragmentation of their small circulation area, according to IUCN as endangered ( endangered ). In the Cross River National Park and south of Lake Oguta , the Nigerian blue-mouthed monkey lives in protected areas.
literature
- Thomas Geissmann : Comparative Primatology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin et al. 2003, ISBN 3-540-43645-6 .
Web links
- Information on the Animal Diversity Web
- Information on animalinfo.org
- Cercopithecus sclateri in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006 Posted by: T. Butynski & Members of the Primate Specialist Group, 2000. Accessed June 23 of 2008.