The grey-cheeked mangabey (''Lophocebus albigena''), also known as the white-cheeked mangabey, is an

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 ...

found in the

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s of

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Co ...

. It ranges from

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

down to

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

. The grey-cheeked mangabey is a dark monkey, looking in shape overall like a small, hairy

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ...

. 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 Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

, however more recently habituated troops have been observed on the forest floor collecting food. It feeds primarily on fruit, particularly figs, taking other fruits seasonally, as well as shoots, flowers and insects. The grey-cheeked mangabey lives in groups of between 5 and 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 Mangabeys are West-African Old World monkeys, with species in three of the six genera of tribe Papionini. The more typical representatives of ''Cercocebus'', also known as the white-eyelid mangabeys, are characterized by their bare, upper eye-l ...

will usually avoid other troops. Their territories cover several square miles of forest, and can both overlap with other troops and shift over time. Three subspecies of this mangabey were previously recognized. In 2007,

Colin Groves Colin Peter Groves (24 June 1942 – 30 November 2017) was a British-Australian biologist and anthropologist. Groves was Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Education Born in Englan ...

elevated them all to species level, splitting one (''johnstoni'') into two species.

References

External links

Even Monkeys Can Be Meteorologists
{{Authority control Lophocebus Primates of Africa Mammals of Burundi Mammals of Cameroon Mammals of the Central African Republic Mammals of the Republic of the Congo Mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mammals of Equatorial Guinea Mammals of Gabon Mammals of Rwanda Mammals of Tanzania Mammals of Uganda Mammals described in 1850 Taxa named by John Edward Gray