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
A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance an ...
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.
[Takeover of Nigerian reserve highlights uphill battle to save forests, Orji Sunday, 04 May 2020 https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/takeover-of-nigerian-reserve-highlights-uphill-battle-to-save-forests/] It is one of the species that live in the
Guinean Forests of the
West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot.
There are two
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of white-throated guenon:
*Red-bellied guenon, ''Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster''
*Nigerian white-throated guenon, ''Cercopithecus erythrogaster pococki''
References
Animal Info 2004
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1150237
white-throated guenon
Mammals of West Africa
white-throated guenon
white-throated guenon