West African colobus monkey
| West African colobus monkey | ||||||||||||
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Drawing from "A review of the primates" by Daniel Giraud Elliot |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Piliocolobus badius | ||||||||||||
| ( Kerr , 1792) |
The West African colobus monkey ( Piliocolobus badius ) is a species of primate from the group of colobus monkeys .
features
West African colobus monkeys reach a head body length of 50 to 63 (males) or 43 to 63 (females) centimeters, plus a 63 to 77 centimeter long tail. Their weight varies between 9 and 12.5 (males) or 6 to 9 (females) kilograms. Your body is slim, the limbs are long and relatively thin. Their fur is glossy black on the top, the outer sides of the upper arms and thighs and the top of the head, the abdomen, the inner sides of the upper arms and thighs, forearms and lower legs and the cheeks are reddish-brown to maroon-brown. They are white around the genital region. The tail is reddish and becomes increasingly blacker towards the end. The wrinkled face is black and rosy around the eyes and mouth. Young animals are colored gray above and whitish below, with a reddish tint on the hands and feet and on the tail. As with all colobus monkeys, the thumb has receded.
distribution and habitat
West African colobus monkeys are native to Sierra Leone via Liberia and South Guinea to the western Ivory Coast east to the Bandama . To the east of the Bandama includes the (former) range of Miss Waldron's red colobus monkey ( P. waldronae ), which may have become extinct. This species and the Temminck colobus monkey ( P. temminckii ) found in Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau were considered subspecies of the West African colobus monkey in the past. It is not yet known whether the range of the Temminck colobus monkey and the West African colobus monkey are directly adjacent to each other or whether there is a distribution gap or a geographic barrier between the species. The animals live in trees and rely on old, damp forests. They spend more time in tall trees than the Temminck colobus.
Way of life
West African colobus monkeys, like all old world monkeys, are diurnal. They are skilled climbers, for which their long tails and fingers serve, and they rarely get to the ground.
These animals live in groups of 33 to 90 animals. In a group there are several males and usually two to three times as many females. Some animals, especially young males that have been chased out of their birth group, also live solitary. Both sexes develop a strict hierarchy, which among other things comes to light in preferred access to food sources and sleeping places, but also in priority in grooming and mating. (This is how the highest-ranking male in a group reproduces most often.) They communicate using a range of sounds, including a barking alarm sound from the males, as well as gestures and postures.
These animals have no fixed territory, but defend their current whereabouts with aggressive gestures and yelling against other groups. The size of the home ranges depends on the habitat and the group size and can be between 8 and 132 hectares - an average of 1 to 2 hectares per animal.
food
West African colobus monkeys feed primarily on leaves, but they also eat fruits and flowers. Like all colobus monkeys, they have a four-chambered stomach , which is used to break down the cellulose and thus improve the utilization of the nutrient-poor leaf food - this digestive system is also found in a similar form in ruminants .
Reproduction
After a gestation period of around 4.5 to 5.5 months, the female usually gives birth to a single young. Most births occur in the beginning of the dry season, around October to December. In contrast to other colobus monkeys, only the mother and not other females take care of the young. Both females and males leave their birth group when they reach sexual maturity; While females usually quickly make contact with another group, the young males are often chased away by force and often live solitary for a certain time.
threat
West African colobus monkeys are among the prey animals of the common chimpanzees and the crowned eagle , and leopards also hunt them. The greatest threat, however, comes from humans: the continuing destruction of their habitat has severely restricted their range, and there is also hunting for their meat (" bushmeat "). The IUCN lists the species as endangered . Protected areas where the species occurs include the Taï National Park in Ivory Coast, and the Gola , Outamba-Kilimi and Tiwai National Parks in Sierra Leone.
Systematics
The West African colobus monkey is now listed as one of 17 species in the genus of the red colobus monkey ( Piliocolobus ). Older systematics still grouped all species into a single species ( P. badius ), but this scientific name is only valid for the West African species today. Older works also classify these animals in the genus Colobus or Procolobus .
literature
- Thomas Geissmann : Comparative Primatology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin et al. 2003, ISBN 3-540-43645-6 .
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Elizabeth L. Gadsby, Colin P. Groves, Aoife Healy, K. Praveen Karanth, Sanjay Molur, Tilo Nadler, Matthew C. Richardson, Erin P. Riley, Anthony B. Rylands, Lori K. Sheeran, Nelson Ting , Janette Wallis, Siân S. Waters & Danielle J. Whittaker: Family Cercopithecidae (Old World Monkeys). Page 705 in Russell A. Mittermeier , Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson : Handbook of the Mammals of the World: - Volume 3. Primates. Lynx Editions, 2013 ISBN 978-8496553897
- ↑ Piliocolobus badius in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: Oates, JF, Struhsaker, T. & McGraw, S., 2008. Accessed on 4 August, 2007.