Grivet

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Grivet [1]
Grivet (Chlorocebus aethiops) head 2.jpg
Amora Gedel Park, Awasa, Ethiopia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Chlorocebus
Species:
C. aethiops
Binomial name
Chlorocebus aethiops
Grivet area.png
Grivet range
Female in Ethiopia Grivet Monkey, Ethiopia (11402753086).jpg
Female in Ethiopia

The grivet (Chlorocebus aethiops) is an Old World monkey with long white tufts of hair along the sides of its face. Some authorities consider this and all of the members of the genus Chlorocebus to be a single species, Cercopithecus aethiops. [1] As here defined, the grivet is restricted to Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea. [2] In the southern part of its range, it comes into contact with the closely related vervet monkey (C. pygerythrus) and Bale Mountains vervet (C. djamdjamensis). [4] Hybridization between them is possible, and may present a threat to the vulnerable Bale Mountains vervet. [4] Unlike that species, the grivet is common and rated as least concern by the IUCN. [2]

Contents

Physical description

The grivet's facial skin, hands, and feet are black. The face has a white line above the eyes. It has long, white whiskers on the cheeks. The fur on the back has an olive color, while the front is white. The skin on the stomach has a blue tint. The fur has a bristly feel. The approximate head and body length for males is 49 cm (19 in) and 42.6 cm (16.8 in) for females. [5] The length of the tail for males is about 30–50 cm (12–20 in). [6] The body mass ranges from 3.4 to 8.0 kg (7.5 to 17.6 lb), with females at the smaller end of the scale. [5]

Habitat and distribution

The main habitat of the grivet is savanna woodlands. [2] Its range is Sudan east of the White Nile, Eritrea, and Ethiopia east to the Rift Valley. [1] [7] It is also found in Djibouti. [2] The grivet needs to live around a source of water, especially during the dry season. It is able to adapt to many environments. [2]

Local and indigenous names

In Tigrinya language: ወዓግ (wi’ag) [7]

Behavior

The grivet is most active in the morning and early evening. It stays on the ground most of the day to eat, and at night it sleeps in trees. The grivet spends a lot of time grooming, playing, climbing, and play fighting; all of these things help to ensure its survival. Its eating habits consist of eating mostly fruits, vegetables, and sometimes small mammals, insects, and birds, making it an omnivore. It also scavenges for human food. It must drink water daily, especially in the dry seasons. It is one of few species that has multiple-male groups that are of moderate size. In the hierarchy of males, an individual shows his dominance by putting his tail in a stiff, upright position and strolling past lower-ranked males. [8] They travel in packs, and usually move on all fours or quadrupedally, except when using both hands for carrying, when they manage to walk and run quite comfortably on two legs. Groups can range from five to over 70. [5]

Females will have a limited number of mates, while males may have several. Swelling of the female's vulva alerts males as to when she is in estrus. Giving birth to one baby at a time is common, and gestation usually lasts 2-3 months. When the baby is born, the mother cleans the infant and bites off the umbilical cord. Young have pink faces and black hair. Around two months are needed for them to get their adult coats. The first few months, the infant stays very close to its mother, but after 6 months, the infant is weaned. [5]

Conservation

Grivets are occasionally hunted as bushmeat. They are killed for either commercial or subsistence purposes. Although not endangered, they are threatened through destruction of habitat - forests. They are preyed on by large snakes, leopards, humans, and sometimes baboons. [9] Grivets may live for 13 years. [5]

Relationship with humans

The grivet is one of five species of monkeys known to have been kept in ancient Egypt, the others being the hamadryas baboon, the olive baboon, the patas monkey, and the barbary macaque. Grivets were imported from the Land of Punt, as attested in paintings and in the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor . They were sometimes traded as far afield as Assyria. They are rarer in representations than baboons, and unlike baboons, do not seem to have borne individual names. [10]

Grivets are depicted on Egyptian tombs as house pets and on leashes. In some depictions, they may symbolize male sexuality. Early Dynastic statuettes of grivets have been found in sanctuaries, where they may have been votive offerings to the baboon god. A grivet shooting a bow was an aspect of the invisible god Atum, and at Deltaic Babylon, a grivet was the town god represented by a statue in the temple. [10]

Since the 1960s, the grivet has been harvested on an industrial scale by humans for their kidneys, which are used in poliovirus and adenovirus vaccine production. In 1967, the Marburg virus in grivets caused the death of 31 vaccine manufacturers. [11] In the medical literature, the grivet and the green monkey are often confused. They are also used in medical research such as the testing of dengue vaccines as well as in the testing of human cosmetics. [12]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guenon</span> Genus of Old World monkeys

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dryas monkey</span> Species of Old World monkey

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vervet monkey</span> Species of Old World monkey

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cercopithecinae</span> Subfamily of Old World monkeys

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green monkey</span> Species of mammal

The green monkey, also known as the sabaeus monkey, is an Old World monkey with golden-green fur and pale hands and feet. The tip of the tail is golden yellow as are the backs of the thighs and cheek whiskers. It does not have a distinguishing band of fur on the brow, like other Chlorocebus species, and males have a pale blue scrotum. Some authorities consider this and all of the members of the genus Chlorocebus to be a single widespread species, C. aethiops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bale Mountains vervet</span> Species of Old World monkey

The Bale Mountains vervet is a terrestrial Old World monkey endemic to Ethiopia, found in the bamboo forests of the Bale Mountains. All species in Chlorocebus were formerly in the genus Cercopithecus. The Bale Mountains vervet is one of the least-known primates in Africa. They avoid tree-dominated and bushland areas as their habitat. These monkeys mainly reside in the bamboo forest of the Bale Mountains due their dietary specialization on bamboo, but other factors, such as climate, forest history, soil quality, and disease, are likely to play a role in their choice to inhabit this area. The Bale Mountains vervet have a very quiet behavior and tend to flee when encountering a human being. It is also known as the Bale monkey and Bale Mountain grivet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tantalus monkey</span> Species of Old World monkey

The tantalus monkey is an Old World monkey from Africa that ranges from Ghana to Sudan. It was originally described as a subspecies of the grivet. All species in Chlorocebus were formerly in the genus Cercopithecus. It is a common species with a wide range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baboon</span> Genus of mammals

Baboons are primates comprising the genus Papio, one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys, in the family Cercopithecidae. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma baboon. Each species is native to one of six areas of Africa and the hamadryas baboon is also native to part of the Arabian Peninsula. Baboons are among the largest non-hominoid primates and have existed for at least two million years.

References

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