White-throated guenon [1] | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
Family: | Cercopithecidae |
Genus: | Cercopithecus |
Species: | C. erythrogaster |
Binomial name | |
Cercopithecus erythrogaster J. E. Gray, 1866 | |
White-throated guenon range |
The white-throated guenon (Cercopithecus erythrogaster), also known as the red-bellied monkey and the red-bellied guenon, is a diurnal primate that lives on trees of rainforests or tropical areas of Nigeria and Benin.
The white-throated guenon is usually a frugivore but insects, leaves, and crops are also in its diet. It usually lives in small groups of four to five individual monkeys however, there have been groups of 30 discovered, and in cases, some males wander alone. It is arboreal, living in moist tropical forest and the wettest parts of dry tropical forest, however it can also be found in secondary bush and old farmland.
Males weigh from 3.5–4.5 kg and females weigh 2–4 kg. Females give birth to one offspring, which is a factor of decreasing population.
The white-throated guenon was once considered extinct due to constant hunting for the fur of its unique red belly and white front legs. Yet, a small group was found near the Niger River in 1988.
The white-throated guenon is still considered an endangered species due to its decreasing population. It is present within Nigerian forest reserves and sacred groves in Benin but hunting and logging restrictions are difficult to enforce or nonexistent. [2] [3] [4] It is one of the species that live in the Guinean Forests of the West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot.
There are two subspecies of white-throated guenon:
The Diana monkey is an Old World monkey found in the high canopy forests in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and western Côte d’Ivoire Named for its white brow which is said to resemble the bow of the Roman goddess Diana, this black-grey guenon has a white throat, crescent-shaped browband, ruff and beard.
The guenons are Old World monkeys of the genus Cercopithecus. Not all members of this genus have the word "guenon" in their common names; also, because of changes in scientific classification, some monkeys in other genera may have common names that include the word "guenon". Nonetheless, the use of the term guenon for monkeys of this genus is widely accepted.
Sclater's guenon, also known as Sclater's monkey and the Nigerian monkey, is an Old World monkey that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1904 and named after Philip Sclater. It is an arboreal and diurnal primate that lives in the forests of southern Nigeria. It should not be confused with the closely related species, the white-throated guenon, which occurs in Nigeria and Benin. Sclater's guenon was formerly classified as a subspecies of the red-eared guenon.
The Preuss's monkey, also known as Preuss's guenon, is a diurnal primate that lives terrestrially in mountainous forests of eastern Nigeria, western Cameroon and Bioko in Equatorial Guinea. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the L'Hoest's monkey.
De Brazza's monkey is an Old World monkey endemic to the riverine and swamp forests of central Africa. The largest species in the guenon family, it is one of the most widespread arboreal African primates. Aside from size, it can be differentiated from other cercopithecus monkeys by its orange diadem and white beard. Due to its cryptic nature, the species is not well documented in all of its habitats but has shown unique traits, such as pair-bonding and aggressive behavior towards other guenons.
The mona monkey is an Old World monkey that lives in western Africa between Ghana and Cameroon. The mona monkey can also be found on the island of Grenada as it was transported to the island aboard slave ships headed to the New World during the 18th century. This guenon lives in groups of up to thirty-five in forests. It mainly feeds on fruit, but sometimes eats insects and leaves. The mona monkey has brown agouti fur with a white rump. Its tail and legs are black and the face is blue-grey with a dark stripe across the face. The mona monkey carries food in cheek pouches.
The Hamlyn's monkey, also known as the owl-faced monkey, is a species of Old World monkey that inhabits the bamboo and primary rainforests of the Congo. This species is exceedingly rare and known only from a few specimens; little is known about it. However these specimens tend to be widely dispersed throughout the eastern part of Congo, from the Epulu River to the Lukuga River and from the Congo River to the Kabale Forest, with one example in northwestern Rwanda. Geographically it corresponds quite closely to another species of monkey, L'Hoest's monkey C. lhoesti. It travels on the ground, and researchers think that it may be awake primarily by night.
L'Hoest's monkey, also known as the mountain monkey, is a guenon found in the upper eastern Congo basin. They mostly live in mountainous forest areas in small, female-dominated groups. They have a dark coat and can be distinguished by a characteristic white beard.
Wolf's mona monkey, also called Wolf's guenon, is a colourful Old World monkey in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in central Africa, primarily between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. It lives in primary and secondary lowland rainforest and swamp forest.
The moustached guenon or moustached monkey is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.
The red-eared guenon, also called red-eared monkey or russet-eared guenon, is a primate species in the family Cercopithecidae. It is native to subtropical and tropical moist lowland forests in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and is threatened by habitat loss, illegal bushmeat hunting and pet trade.
The lesser spot-nosed monkey, also known as the lesser spot-nosed guenon, lesser white-nosed guenon, or lesser white-nosed monkey, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Guinea-Bissau, and possibly Senegal.
The crested mona monkey, also known as the crowned guenon, crowned monkey, golden-bellied guenon, or golden-bellied monkey,, is a species of African primate in the family Cercopithecidae found in west central Africa.
The Roloway monkey is an endangered species of Old World monkey endemic to tropical West Africa. It was previously considered a subspecies of the Diana monkey. The species is classified as Critically Endangered due to habitat loss and their continued hunting because of the bushmeat trade. The Roloway monkey is mainly an arboreal species, for the most part inhabiting forests in Ghana and some reserves in South-Eastern Côte-D'Ivoire. More specifically, studies have shown that C. roloway is primarily concentrated in the Tanoé forest of the Côte-D'Ivoire because of their heavy threats to extinction and lack of habitat. It is still difficult to gather data on wild subjects, as they have low populations in a vast forest, but they are a unique and vanishing species.
Sykes' monkey, also known as the white-throated monkey or Samango monkey, is a subspecies of the blue monkey. It is an Old World monkey found between Ethiopia and South Africa, including south and east Democratic Republic of Congo. It is named after English naturalist Colonel William Henry Sykes (1790-1872), and has a large white patch on the throat and upper chest, and a grizzled cap.
The Akure Forest Reserve is situated in Ondo State, Nigeria's Akure South Local Government Area, a tropical rainforest. It has a total area of approximately 40,000 hectares and is located between latitudes 7°16' and 7°18' N and longitudes 5°9' and 5°11' E.
The Niger Delta red colobus is a critically endangered species of colobus monkey endemic to the western part of the Niger Delta. It is threatened by hunting and habitat loss.
The red-tailed monkey, also known as the black-cheeked white-nosed monkey, red-tailed guenon, redtail monkey, or Schmidt's guenon, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae.