Wolf's Mona Monkey
Encyclopedia
The Wolf's mona monkey (Cercopithecus wolfi), also called Wolf's guenon, is a colorful Old World monkey
in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in central Africa
, primarily between the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and Uganda
. It lives in primary and secondary lowland rainforest and swamp forest.
, Dent's mona monkey
, Lowe's mona monkey
, the mona monkey
, and the crested mona monkey
. Wolf's mona monkey was previously considered a subspecies of the crested mona monkey. The Cercopithecus genus is a member of the Cercopithecinae
subfamily along with baboon
s, mangabeys, and macaque
s. This subfamily shares several common traits such as cheek pouches, low and rounded molar cusps, and simple stomachs; all adaptations to a frugivorous
diet.
Wolf's mona monkey has two subspecies which are separated by a large area of swamp forest:
Guenon
s, the largest group of African primate
s, are very colorful. Their color is used in intraspecific communication for recognizing individuals, species, and potential mates. Wolf's mona monkey is dark grey with a red "saddle" on its back. The pelage depends on the subspecies. C. wolfi wolfi has a chestnut-colored patch on the middle of its back. Its arms are black and legs are red. It has a yellow underside, occasionally with an orange stripe down its flanks. Its cheek whiskers are yellow, speckled with black, and its ear tufts are red. C. wolfi elegans has a back which is gradually browner towards the rump. Its forearms are black, and its upper arms have a pale speckling. Its legs are light gray, while its underside is white. Its cheek whiskers are white, with dark speckling that increases near the base. Its ear tufts are white. The male's scrotum is blue. Wolf's mona monkey is also sexually dimorphic in size. Males weigh, on average, almost twice as much as females (4.5 kg and 2.5 kg respectively).. Its small size makes it susceptible to predators, especially the Crowned Eagle
and the Leopard
.
, it may also forage for seeds and insects for protein. Since it has no adaptations for leaf eating, its leaf diet mainly consists of young and easily digestible leaves.
, with males dispersing from the group at sexual maturity. Because one male controls several females there is extreme competition for the alpha male position. Females, on the other hand, are generally amicable and participate in grooming and allomothering
. Unlike macaques there are no strong linear dominance hierarchies.
Conspecific groups are generally intolerant of each other. Both males and females behave aggressively in intergroup encounters. They are very territorial, using calling and aggression (if needed). Females play an important role in territory defense; when they call it prompts the male to call as well.
Among cercopithecines, forest guenons such as Wolf's mona monkey have very developed cheek pouches. These cheek pouches are second only to macaques. The evolution of these cheek pouches in both genera may be a response to the increased potential for interspecific competition in the mixed-species associations which these monkeys frequently form.
, the red-tailed monkey
, the Angola colobus
, Allen's swamp monkey
, and the bonobo
. No viable offspring or interspecific mating occurs during its associations with other primates.
In one study, Wolf's mona monkeys were found associating with Bonobos within 20 metres for an average time of 20 minutes (although sometimes for over an hour). These interactions were mainly initiated by, and departed by, the guenons; this indicates that the guenons most benefited from these associations. Although the Common Chimpanzee
is known to hunt sympatric primates, this is not the case with the Bonobo. No aggressive interactions occurred during the study period. The red-tailed monkey (C. ascanius) was also found to associate with Bonobos, and on five occasions the association was initiated by a mixed group of guenons (C. ascanius and C. wolfi). When a mixed group was involved in the association, it always lasted for over an hour. Interactions occurred once every seven hours. Associations mainly occurred while the bonobos were feeding or resting. Wolf's mona monkey was found to feed in the trees while the bonobo fed or rested.
Hohmann and Surbeck published in 2008 that Bonobos sometimes do hunt monkey species. Having observed a group of bonobos in Salonga National Park for five years they witnessed five incidents where bonobos preyed on groups of monkeys. Their research indicates it was deliberate hunting, where a group of bonobos would coordinate their actions—contrary to their normal hunting behaviour, which is quite solitary and less purposeful. In three occasions the hunt was successful and infant monkeys were captured, once a redtail monkey and twice a Cercopithecus wolfi. The spoils, however, were distributed quite peacefully among the members of the group.[17][18]
When forming associations with other primates it is necessary that there is a difference in diet or feeding height between the species to reduce competition. When in a mixed group, Wolf's mona monkey will move and forage at a mean height of 17 metres. Wolf's mona monkey is mainly found in association with the red-tailed monkey (which forages at 12 m) and the black crested mangabey (which forages at 21.5 m), two species with similar diets to Wolf's mona monkey. These mixed groups most likely form for predator detection.
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...
in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in central Africa
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
, primarily between the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
and Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. It lives in primary and secondary lowland rainforest and swamp forest.
Taxonomy
Wolf's mona monkey is in the C. mona grouping within the Cercopithecus genus along with Campbell's mona monkeyCampbell's Mona Monkey
Campbell's mona monkey , also known as Campbell's guenon and Campbell's monkey, is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family...
, Dent's mona monkey
Dent's Mona Monkey
Dent's mona monkey is an Old World monkey in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Congo, Rwanda, western Uganda, and the Central African Republic. It was previously classified as a subspecies of Wolf's mona monkey C. wolf....
, Lowe's mona monkey
Lowe's Mona Monkey
Lowe's mona monkey is an Old World monkey in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found from the Ivory Coast to Ghana. It was previously classified as a subspecies of Campbell's mona monkey C. campbelli....
, the mona monkey
Mona Monkey
The mona monkey is an Old World monkey that lives throughout western Africa. The mona monkey can also be found on the island of Grenada as it was transported to the island aboard slave ships headed to the New World during the 18th century. This guenon lives in groups of up to 35 in arboreal regions...
, and the crested mona monkey
Crested Mona Monkey
The crested mona monkey , also known as the crowned guenon, crowned monkey, golden-bellied guenon, or golden-bellied monkey, is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family...
. Wolf's mona monkey was previously considered a subspecies of the crested mona monkey. The Cercopithecus genus is a member of the Cercopithecinae
Cercopithecinae
The Cercopithecinae are a subfamily of the Old World monkeys, that includes in its roughly 71 species the baboons, the macaques and the vervet monkeys...
subfamily along with baboon
Baboon
Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger...
s, mangabeys, and macaque
Macaque
The macaques constitute a genus of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. - Description :Aside from humans , the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from Japan to Afghanistan and, in the case of the barbary macaque, to North Africa...
s. This subfamily shares several common traits such as cheek pouches, low and rounded molar cusps, and simple stomachs; all adaptations to a frugivorous
Frugivore
A frugivore is a fruit eater. It can be any type of herbivore or omnivore where fruit is a preferred food type. Because approximately 20% of all mammalian herbivores also eat fruit, frugivory is considered to be common among mammals. Since frugivores eat a lot of fruit they are highly dependent...
diet.
Wolf's mona monkey has two subspecies which are separated by a large area of swamp forest:
- C. wolfi wolfi, found between the CongoCongo RiverThe Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
and Sankuru RiverSankuru RiverSankuru River is a major river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its approximate length of 1,230 km makes it the longest tributary of Kasai River....
s. - C. wolfi elegans, found between the LomamiLomami RiverThe Lomami River is a major tributary of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The river is approximately long. It flows north, west of and parallel to the upper Congo....
and Lualaba RiverLualaba RiverThe Lualaba River is the greatest headstream of the Congo River by volume of water. However, by length the Chambeshi River is the farthest headstream. The Lualaba is 1800 km long, running from near Musofi in the vicinity of Lubumbashi in Katanga Province. The whole of its length lies within the...
s
Physical characteristics
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"...
s, the largest group of African primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
s, are very colorful. Their color is used in intraspecific communication for recognizing individuals, species, and potential mates. Wolf's mona monkey is dark grey with a red "saddle" on its back. The pelage depends on the subspecies. C. wolfi wolfi has a chestnut-colored patch on the middle of its back. Its arms are black and legs are red. It has a yellow underside, occasionally with an orange stripe down its flanks. Its cheek whiskers are yellow, speckled with black, and its ear tufts are red. C. wolfi elegans has a back which is gradually browner towards the rump. Its forearms are black, and its upper arms have a pale speckling. Its legs are light gray, while its underside is white. Its cheek whiskers are white, with dark speckling that increases near the base. Its ear tufts are white. The male's scrotum is blue. Wolf's mona monkey is also sexually dimorphic in size. Males weigh, on average, almost twice as much as females (4.5 kg and 2.5 kg respectively).. Its small size makes it susceptible to predators, especially the Crowned Eagle
Crowned Eagle
The Crowned Eagle or Crowned Hawk-eagle , is a very large, powerful, crested bird of prey found in sub-Saharan Africa; in Southern Africa it is restricted to suitable habitat in the eastern areas. It is the only extant member of the genus Stephanoaetus...
and the 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...
.
Diet and feeding
The diet of Wolf's mona monkey differs depending on location. Although predominantly a frugivoreFrugivore
A frugivore is a fruit eater. It can be any type of herbivore or omnivore where fruit is a preferred food type. Because approximately 20% of all mammalian herbivores also eat fruit, frugivory is considered to be common among mammals. Since frugivores eat a lot of fruit they are highly dependent...
, it may also forage for seeds and insects for protein. Since it has no adaptations for leaf eating, its leaf diet mainly consists of young and easily digestible leaves.
Social systems
The birth season for Wolf's mona monkey is from June through December due to rainfall and resource availability. It lives in a single male/multi-female group. It is female philopatricPhilopatry
Broadly, philopatry is the behaviour of remaining in, or returning to, an individual's birthplace. More specifically, in ecology philopatry is the behaviour of elder offspring sharing the parental burden in the upbringing of their siblings, a classic example of kin selection...
, with males dispersing from the group at sexual maturity. Because one male controls several females there is extreme competition for the alpha male position. Females, on the other hand, are generally amicable and participate in grooming and allomothering
Allomothering
Allomothering, or non-maternal infant care, can be performed by males such as a child’s father, non-reproductive males in polyandrous systems, or older siblings interested in abetting their own genetic material via their siblings ....
. Unlike macaques there are no strong linear dominance hierarchies.
Conspecific groups are generally intolerant of each other. Both males and females behave aggressively in intergroup encounters. They are very territorial, using calling and aggression (if needed). Females play an important role in territory defense; when they call it prompts the male to call as well.
Among cercopithecines, forest guenons such as Wolf's mona monkey have very developed cheek pouches. These cheek pouches are second only to macaques. The evolution of these cheek pouches in both genera may be a response to the increased potential for interspecific competition in the mixed-species associations which these monkeys frequently form.
Associations
Wolf's mona monkey is known to associate with several guenon and non-guenon species such as the black crested mangabeyBlack Crested Mangabey
The Black crested mangabey is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss....
, the red-tailed monkey
Red-tailed Monkey
The red-tailed monkey, black-cheeked white-nosed monkey, red-tailed guenon, redtail monkey, or Schmidt's guenon is a species of primate in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania,...
, the Angola colobus
Angola Colobus
The Angola colobus, Angolan black-and-white colobus or Angolan colobus is an arboreal Old World monkey belonging to the Colobus genus....
, Allen's swamp monkey
Allen's Swamp Monkey
Allen's swamp monkey is a primate species that is categorized in its own genus Allenopithecus in the Old World monkey family...
, and the bonobo
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
. No viable offspring or interspecific mating occurs during its associations with other primates.
In one study, Wolf's mona monkeys were found associating with Bonobos within 20 metres for an average time of 20 minutes (although sometimes for over an hour). These interactions were mainly initiated by, and departed by, the guenons; this indicates that the guenons most benefited from these associations. Although the Common Chimpanzee
Common Chimpanzee
The common chimpanzee , also known as the robust chimpanzee, is a great ape. Colloquially, the common chimpanzee is often called the chimpanzee , though technically this term refers to both species in the genus Pan: the common chimpanzee and the closely related bonobo, formerly called the pygmy...
is known to hunt sympatric primates, this is not the case with the Bonobo. No aggressive interactions occurred during the study period. The red-tailed monkey (C. ascanius) was also found to associate with Bonobos, and on five occasions the association was initiated by a mixed group of guenons (C. ascanius and C. wolfi). When a mixed group was involved in the association, it always lasted for over an hour. Interactions occurred once every seven hours. Associations mainly occurred while the bonobos were feeding or resting. Wolf's mona monkey was found to feed in the trees while the bonobo fed or rested.
Hohmann and Surbeck published in 2008 that Bonobos sometimes do hunt monkey species. Having observed a group of bonobos in Salonga National Park for five years they witnessed five incidents where bonobos preyed on groups of monkeys. Their research indicates it was deliberate hunting, where a group of bonobos would coordinate their actions—contrary to their normal hunting behaviour, which is quite solitary and less purposeful. In three occasions the hunt was successful and infant monkeys were captured, once a redtail monkey and twice a Cercopithecus wolfi. The spoils, however, were distributed quite peacefully among the members of the group.[17][18]
When forming associations with other primates it is necessary that there is a difference in diet or feeding height between the species to reduce competition. When in a mixed group, Wolf's mona monkey will move and forage at a mean height of 17 metres. Wolf's mona monkey is mainly found in association with the red-tailed monkey (which forages at 12 m) and the black crested mangabey (which forages at 21.5 m), two species with similar diets to Wolf's mona monkey. These mixed groups most likely form for predator detection.