Greater Spot-nosed Monkey
Encyclopedia
The greater spot-nosed monkey or Putty-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans) is one of the smallest Old World monkey
s. It is a guenon
of the C. mitis
group, native to West Africa and living to some extent in rain forests but more often in the transition zone between rain forest and savannah
. It is primarily arboreal and often associates with monkeys of other species. Both their common names come from the monkeys' prominent white nose.
The greater spot-nosed monkey lives in groups consisting of one adult male, a number of adult females, and their dependent offspring. There has been little recent research into its behaviour, and most of it has concentrated on its auditory communication. Males use three call types which have been described as 'booms', 'pyows' and 'hacks'. These are used in a number of contexts including as alarm calls.
As in some other species of monkeys, it has been argued that the acoustical structure of greater spot-nosed monkey alarm calls varies according to the kind of predator that has been spotted It has also been suggested that the monkey combines different sounds into a sequence, which has an entirely different meaning from the sounds out of which it is made. For instance, the sound "pyow" alone means that another animal, like a leopard
, is lurking nearby, and "hack" means that a flying animal, like an eagle, is flying nearby. But when the two are combined together, like in the sequence "pyow pyow hack hack hack hack" they have an entirely different meaning: let's get out of here and move to another place.
Old World monkey
The Old World monkeys or Cercopithecidae are a group of primates, falling in the superfamily Cercopithecoidea in the clade Catarrhini. The Old World monkeys are native to Africa and Asia today, inhabiting a range of environments from tropical rain forest to savanna, shrubland and mountainous...
s. It is a guenon
Guenon
The guenons are the genus Cercopithecus of Old World monkeys. Not all the members of this genus have the word "guenon" in their common names, and because of changes in scientific classification, some monkeys in other genera may have common names that do include the word "guenon"...
of the C. mitis
Blue Monkey
The blue monkey or diademed monkey is a species of Old World monkey native to Central and East Africa, ranging from the upper Congo River basin east to the Great Rift Valley and south to northern Angola and Zambia...
group, native to West Africa and living to some extent in rain forests but more often in the transition zone between rain forest and savannah
Savannah
Savannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-People:* Savannah King, a Canadian freestyle swimmer* Savannah Outen, a singer who gained popularity on You Tube...
. It is primarily arboreal and often associates with monkeys of other species. Both their common names come from the monkeys' prominent white nose.
The greater spot-nosed monkey lives in groups consisting of one adult male, a number of adult females, and their dependent offspring. There has been little recent research into its behaviour, and most of it has concentrated on its auditory communication. Males use three call types which have been described as 'booms', 'pyows' and 'hacks'. These are used in a number of contexts including as alarm calls.
As in some other species of monkeys, it has been argued that the acoustical structure of greater spot-nosed monkey alarm calls varies according to the kind of predator that has been spotted It has also been suggested that the monkey combines different sounds into a sequence, which has an entirely different meaning from the sounds out of which it is made. For instance, the sound "pyow" alone means that another animal, like a leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
, is lurking nearby, and "hack" means that a flying animal, like an eagle, is flying nearby. But when the two are combined together, like in the sequence "pyow pyow hack hack hack hack" they have an entirely different meaning: let's get out of here and move to another place.