Colobus monkey
| Black-and-white colobus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Mantled guereza (Colobus guereza) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Family: | Cercopithecidae |
| Subfamily: | Colobinae |
| Genus: |
Colobus Illiger, 1811 |
| Type species | |
|
Simia polycomos Schreber, 1800 (Cebus polykomos Zimmermann, 1780) |
|
| Species | |
|
Colobus satanas |
|
Colobus satanas
Colobus angolensis
Colobus polykomos
Colobus vellerosus
Colobus guereza
Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus Colobus, native to Africa. They are closely related to the brown colobus monkeys of genus Piliocolobus. The word "colobus" comes from Greek κολοβός kolobós ("docked"), and is so named because in this genus, the thumb is a stump. Colobuses are herbivorous, eating leaves, fruit, flowers, and twigs. Their habitats include primary and secondary forests, riverine forests, and wooded grasslands; they are found more in higher-density logged forests than in other primary forests. Their ruminant-like digestive systems have enabled these leaf-eaters to occupy niches that are inaccessible to other primates.
Colobuses live in territorial groups of about nine individuals, based upon a single male with a number of females and their offspring. Newborn colobuses are completely white. Cases of allomothering are documented, which means members of the troop other than the infant's biological mother care for it.
Colobuses are important for seed dispersal through their sloppy eating habits, as well as through their digestive systems. They are prey for many forest predators, and are threatened by hunting for the bushmeat trade, logging, and habitat destruction.
There are five species of this monkey, with at least eight subspecies:
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Wikipedia