The western red colobus (''Piliocolobus badius''), also known as the bay red colobus, rust red colobus or Upper Guinea red colobus, is a species of
Old World monkey
Old World monkey is the common English name for a family of primates known taxonomically as the Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons ...
in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
n forests from
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
to
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
.
[ All other species of ]red colobus
Red colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Piliocolobus''. It was formerly considered a subgenus within the genus ''Procolobus'', which is now restricted to the olive colobus. They are closely related to the black-and-white colobus monke ...
es have formerly been considered 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 ''P. badius''. It is often hunted by the common chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close r ...
. In 1994, western red colobus monkeys infected many chimpanzees with Ebola
Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...
virus when the chimpanzees hunted the monkeys as prey.
Subspecies
According to Groves (2005) the Western red colobus has three subspecies, including the nominate
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list.
Political office
In the ...
:[
* Bay red colobus, ''Piliocolobus badius badius''
* Temminck's red colobus, ''Piliocolobus badius temminckii''
* ]Miss Waldron's red colobus
Miss Waldron's red colobus (''Piliocolobus waldronae'') is a species of the red colobus native to West Africa. It had previously been described as a subspecies of the western red colobus, ''P. badius''. It has not been officially sighted since ...
, ''Piliocolobus badius waldronae''
''P. b. waldronae'' is critically endangered, possibly even extinct. The other two subspecies are endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
. Under more recent taxonomies, these are generally considered separate species. Groves concurs with this revision, although not all primatologists agree.
Description
The western red colobus grows to a head-and-body length of with a tail of , and a weight of between . It has red or chestnut-brown head and limbs and black, slatey-grey or dark brown upper parts. It does not have long fringes of hair, or tufts of hair on the tail. Compared to monkeys in the genus ''Colobus
Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subs ...
'', the nostrils are V-shaped, the digits are long and the big toe short.
Distribution and habitat
The red colobus is endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to tropical West Africa. Its range includes various fragmentary populations in Sierra Leone, and contiguous populations in Liberia, Guinea and western Ivory Coast. It is unclear exactly where the ranges of ''P. b. badius'' and ''P. b. temminckii'' meet, but ''P. b. badius'' populations are separated from ''P. b. waldronae'' by the Bandama River
The Bandama River is the longest river in Ivory Coast with a length of some 800 kilometers. The south-flowing river is fed by the Marahoué, Solomougou, Kan and Nzi rivers and empties into the Tagba Lagoon and the Gulf of Guinea.
The Bandama flo ...
in Ivory Coast. The red colobus is an arboreal species, typically found in primary rainforest, but also inhabiting secondary forest and gallery forest.
Ecology
The red colobus lives in colonies of between twelve and eighty members. There are usually several males and up to three times this number of adult females. There is a social hierarchy, giving access to food, space and grooming.[
]
References
External links
* ARKive
images and movies of the Red colobus ''(Procolobus badius)''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1075133
western red colobus
Ebola
Mammals of West Africa
Endangered fauna of Africa
western red colobus
Primates of Africa
Taxa named by Robert Kerr (writer)