Preuss's monkey

Preuss's monkey[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Cercopithecus
Species: C. preussi
Binomial name
Cercopithecus preussi
Matschie, 1898
Geographic range

Preuss's monkey (Cercopithecus preussi), also known as Preuss's guenon, is a diurnal primate that lives terrestrially in mountainous (up to 2500 m) forests of eastern Nigeria, western Cameroon and Bioko in Equatorial Guinea. It is sometimes classified as a subspecies of the L'Hoest's monkey (C. lhoesti).

The diet of Preuss's monkey is primarily fruit, leaves and insects, although the species occasionally raids human crops. It is darkish in coloration with a white chin, and adult males have a blue scrotum. Preuss's monkeys weigh up to 10 kg. Troops consist of one adult male and several females and adolescents, averaging 17 total per troop. Females give birth to a single offspring about once every three years. The young mature at 4 years and live to be an average of 31 years.

Preuss's monkey is an endangered species, due to habitat loss and hunting. It is one of the species that live in the Guinean Forests of the West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot.

There are two subspecies of Preuss's monkey:

References

  1. ^ Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 158. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100495. 
  2. ^ Oates, J. F. (2008). Cercopithecus preussi. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 January 2009.