Grey-cheeked Mangabey

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iGrey-cheeked Mangabey

juvenile Grey-cheeked Mangabey

Conservation status

Least concern (LR/lc)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Family:	Cercopithecidae
Genus:	Lophocebus
Species:	L. albigena

Binomial name

Lophocebus albigena
(Gray, 1850)

The Grey-cheeked Mangabey (Lophocebus albigena) is an Old World monkey found in the forests of Central Africa. They range from Cameroon down to Gabon and across in western Uganda. The Grey-cheeked Mangabey is a dark monkey, looking in shape overall like a small, hairy baboon. Its thick brown fur is almost black in its forest home, with a slightly rufus/golden mane around the neck. The sexes are similar, with the males slightly larger than the females.

The Grey-cheeked Mangabey lives in a variety of habitats with the forests of Central Africa, it is generally thought to live in either swamp or primary forests, in some areas it has also been found in secondary forest as well. Some authors in the past have considered the species to be restricted to the forest canopy, however more recently habitutated troops have been observed on the forest floor collecting food. It feeds primarily on fruit, particularly figs of the genus Ficus, taking other fruits seasonally, as well as shoots, flowers and insects.

Grey-cheeked Mangabeys will come to the ground to cross roads, forage and socialise

The Grey-cheeked Mangabey lives in groups of between 5 to 30 individuals. The groups have either a single male or (more usually) several, without a single dominant male. Young males leave the troop once they are adult and join other troops, whereas the females stay in the troop of their birth. If troops become too large they may split. Confrontations between troops are rare, as this mangabey will usually avoid other troops. Their territories cover several sqaure miles of forest, and can both overlap with other troops and shift over time.

There are three recognized subspecies of this mangabey:

Lophocebus albigena albigena
Lophocebus albigena johnstoni
Lophocebus albigena osmani

[edit] References

Butynski et al (2000). Lophocebus albigena. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 160. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.