The malbrouck (''Chlorocebus cynosuros'') is an Old World

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...

from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

that belongs to the genus '' Chlorocebus''. The species is sometimes classified as a subspecies of the

vervet monkey The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus ''Chlorocebus''. The five distinct ...

(''C. pygerythrus''), or of the widespread

grivet The grivet (''Chlorocebus aethiops'') is an Old World monkey with long white tufts of hair along the sides of its face. Some authorities consider this and all of the members of the genus ''Chlorocebus'' to be a single species, ''Cercopithecus ae ...

(''C. aethiops'').

Physical characteristics

The malbrouck is a slim, agile primate with long limbs and a long tail. The fur is olive-grey. The breast and underparts are white, as well as the cheeks and eyebrows, which surround the bald, pale-blotched face. The eyes are brown. The genitals are brightly colored; the

scrotum The scrotum or scrotal sac is an anatomical male reproductive structure located at the base of the penis that consists of a suspended dual-chambered sac of skin and smooth muscle. It is present in most terrestrial male mammals. The scrotum co ...

of the male is blue, the

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...

is red. Males are about 20% larger than females.

Distribution and habitat

The malbrouck is found in central and south-central Africa, ranging from the

Albertine Rift The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tan ...

in DR Congo west to the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast and south to northern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

west of the Luangwa River. It lives in marshy forest, savanna-forest and montane forest up to an altitude of 4,500 m (14,750 ft). Photo and information about the Malbrouck.
Natuurinformatie, Naturalis. Accessed 2008-07-10.

Behaviour

The malbrouck is a

diurnal animal Diurnality is a form of plant and animal behavior characterized by activity during daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The common adjective used for daytime activity is "diurnal". The timing of activity by an animal d ...

living in large groups, consisting of six to more than 50 animals. The number of males and females is usually about the same. Each group has its own

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

, the size of which depends on the amount of available food. The malbrouck uses a wide range of sounds and gestures to communicate with other members of a group.

Diet

The diet of this

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

species consists of fruit, seeds, flowers, gum,

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s, chicks and lizards. Vegetable food forms the largest part of the diet in most areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1202598 Chlorocebus Fauna of Central Africa Mammals of Angola Mammals of the Republic of the Congo Mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mammals of Namibia Mammals of Zambia Fauna of Southern Africa Mammals described in 1786 Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli