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colobus monkey

 
Dictionary: col·o·bus monkey   (kŏl'ə-bəs, kə-lō'-) pronunciation
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n.
Any of various large African monkeys of the genus Colobus having a long tail and vestigial thumbs.

[New Latin Colobus, genus name, from Greek kolobos, maimed (from the appearance of its hands).]


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: colobus monkey
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Any of 10 species of long-tailed, essentially thumbless African Old World monkeys in the genus Colobus (family Cercopithecidae). Colobus monkeys are diurnal, generally gregarious vegetarians. They make long leaps from tree to tree. The four species of black-and-white colobus are 22 – 24 in. (55 – 60 cm) long, excluding the 30 – 32-in. (77 – 82-cm) tail. They are slender and have a long, silky coat. The five species of red colobus are brown or black with red markings and are 18 – 24 in. (46 – 60 cm) long, excluding the 16 – 31-in. (40 – 80-cm) tail. The olive colobus has short, olive-coloured fur. Several races of red colobus are considered endangered; other colobus species are vulnerable or rare.

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WordNet: colobus monkey
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: arboreal monkey of western and central Africa with long silky fur and reduced thumbs
  Synonym: colobus

Wikipedia: Black-and-white colobus
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Black-and-white Colobus[1]
Mantled Guereza (Colobus guereza)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Subfamily: Colobinae
Genus: Colobus
Illiger, 1811
Type species
Simia polycomos
Schreber, 1800
(= Cebus polykomos Zimmermann, 1780)
Species

Colobus satanas
Colobus angolensis
Colobus polykomos
Colobus vellerosus
Colobus guereza

Black-and-white colobus are Old World monkeys of the genus Colobus, native to Africa, and are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus Piliocolobus.[1] The word "colobus" comes from Greek ekolobóse "he cut short" and is so named because its thumb is a stump.

Baby colobus are born completely white. Colobus are herbivorous, eating leaves, fruit, flowers, and twigs. The habitat of a colobus includes primary and secondary forest, riverine forest, and wooded grasslands; they are found at higher density logged forests more so than other primary forests. Their ruminant-like digestive systems have enabled these leaf-eaters to occupy niches that are inaccessible to other primates. Colobus live in territorial groups of approximately 9 individuals, based upon a single male with a number of females and their offspring. There are documented cases of "allo" mothering, which means members of the troop other than the infant's biological mother care for it.

Colobus are important for seed dispersal through their sloppy eating habits as well as through their digestive system. In addition, they are prey for many forest predators. Colobus struggle from the bushmeat trade, logging, and habitat destruction. In Africa, forest is often referred to as "the bush," thus wildlife and the meat derived from it is referred to as "bushmeat." This term applies to all wildlife species, including threatened and endangered, used for meat.

There are five species of this monkey, with at least eight subspecies:[1]

  • Genus Colobus
    • Black Colobus, Colobus satanas
      • Gabon Black Colobus, Colobus satanas anthracinus
      • Bioko Black Colobus, Colobus satanas satanas
    • Angola Colobus, Colobus angolensis
      • Colobus angolensis angolensis
      • Colobus angolensis cottoni
      • Adolf Friedrich's Angola Colobus or Ruwenzori Black-and-white Colobus, Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii
      • Colobus angolensis cordieri
      • Prigogine's Angola Colobus, Colobus angolensis prigoginei
      • Peter's Angolan Colobus or Tanzanian Black-and-white Colobus, Colobus angolensis palliatus
    • King Colobus, Colobus polykomos
    • Ursine Colobus, Colobus vellerosus
    • Mantled Guereza, Colobus guereza

References

  1. ^ a b c Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M.. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 167-168. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3. 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Black-and-white colobus".  Read more