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 ...

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 ...

n forests from

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

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 Tog ...

. 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 specie ...

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 great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...

. 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: * Bay red colobus, ''Piliocolobus badius badius'' *

Temminck's red colobus Temminck's red colobus (''Piliocolobus badius temminckii'') is a type of red colobus monkey from the Gambia, Casamance, Guinea-Bissau and northwestern Guinea. It has historically been regarded as a subspecies of the western red colobus (''Pilio ...

, ''Piliocolobus badius temminckii'' * Miss Waldron's red colobus, ''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 in ...

. 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 else ...

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 ...

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)