Sclater's Guenon

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Sclater's Guenon
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Cercopithecidae Genus: Cercopithecus Species: C. sclateri
Binomial name
Cercopithecus sclateri Pocock, 1904

Sclater's Guenon (Cercopithecus sclateri), also known as Sclater's Monkey and the White-throated Guenon is a n Old World monkey that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1904 and named after Philip Sclater. It is a diurnal primate that lives on trees of rainforests or tropical areas of Nigeria and Benin. It should not be confused with the closely related and similarly named species, the White-throated Guenon (Cercopithecus erythrogaster). Also, it is sometimes classified as a subspecies of the Red-eared Guenon (C. erythrotis).

The diet of Sclater's Guenon is unknown, but it is likely to be primarily a frugivore that supplements its diet with other plant parts and insects, based upon other closely related species. Also, related species live in troops of 4 to 30 members.

The male weighs from 3-4 kg and the female weighs 2.5–3.5 kg. The female gives birth to one offspring, which is a factor of decreasing population.

Sclater's Guenon was thought to be extinct until 1988. Five discrete populations exist, living in Nigeria scatter along the Niger River and its delta. Two of these populations live near towns that consider them sacred creatures. The other three populations are heavily hunted. Each of the protected populations consist of about 250 individuals. Sclater's Guenon is still considered an endangared species near extinction due to its decreasing population. Today, its territory is protected and regarded as a holy land, where hunting and logging is restricted. It is one of the species that live in the Guinean Forests of the West Africa biodiversity hotspot.

[edit] References

• Butynski et al (2000). Cercopithecus sclateri. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is endangered and the criteria used

• Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 158. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. 
• Animal Info 2004