Colobus Monkey Essay, Research Paper

In Africa there are many types of animals, one of them is the Colobus Monkey. There are different types of Colobus Monkeys: there is the white Colobus, the red Colobus, and the olive Colobus. The Colobus Monkey is a long tailed tree living primate. The Colobus Monkey can be found all over Africa. The Monkey’s hair color varies from were the live. The Colobus Monkey is very unique. It comes in many types of color, is very active in social behavior and is very smart as shown in their lifestyle.

The Colobus Monkey comes in many unique colors. The black and white Colobus is found across the equator of Africa. There are five species, among which the color varies from all black to a skunklike black and white pattern. Black and white Colobus monkeys weigh up to nine kg, or twenty pounds. They live in small social groups of about ten animals, that includes one adult male plus females and their offspring.

The red Colobus Monkey is found across Africa from Zanzibar to Senegal. Their color is highly variable, ranging from a bright white and red in the monkeys of Eastern Africa to a dark gray and orange in Western African monkeys. They also weigh up to nine kg, or twenty pounds. Males are usually bigger than females. The red Colobus lives in large groups of up to one hundred individuals, including mostly males. It is a major prey of the chimpanzee in forest, where they both live.

The olive Colobus is found in the forest of coastal West Africa. It is the most drably colored of the African Colobus Monkey, being a fairly uniform gray-brown. It weighs only ten pounds and lives in groups of six to eight individuals. After giving birth, the females sometimes carry their infants in their mouths. The red Colobus is a little bit smaller than the black and white group. The olive Colobus is the smallest of all at only four hundred fifty-mm. head and body length. “The Colobus Monkey doesn’t live in very many places. The Colobus Monkey lives in the tropical areas and forest. They are found in the tropical region of Africa.” (mcsd.org/webmac/schools/ogs/colobusmonk.htm) This backups information on where the primate is located.

All three species can be grossly classified as primarily frusluogous and insectiuonous, which means they eat mostly, flowers and fruits, although some buds and leaves are eaten by all. “Colobus means “mutilated” it refers to the thumb. The Colobus Monkey does not have a thumb in stead it is usually just a bump. “The name “colobus” is derived from the Greek word “mutilated”. (home.san.rr.com/safari/animals/primates/colobusmonkey.html) Colobus Monkeys are unusual in that they appear to have no thumbs, hence they appear mutilated”.

The Colobus Monkey behaves actively in social behavior. Each group is dominated by a male who spends most of the day on lookout and yells a deep roar when out of sight of the rest of the group. Grooming plays a most important part in the monkeys. Colobus Monkeys enjoy playing with one-another.

The Western black and white Colobus has one series of subspecies ranging from Guinea in the west to Western Nigeria and the much larger area of population until a further series of subspecies in Cameroon, Gabry, Congo, Zaire, Northern Argdu and eastwards into Western Uganda and Tanzania. Colobus monkeys move around quadrapedally but they also resort to semi-brarchiation at times. Foraging groups are based upon a single male with a number of females and their offspring and these may unite at times to form larger groupings. The gestation period for red Colobus Monkeys is not exactly known. From copulation records and the approximate date of birth, females were estimated to have a gestation period of about four to five months.

Colobus Monkeys are very intelligent. Colobus Monkeys spend almost all of their lives in the trees, occasionally descending to the ground. Colobus Monkeys usually live in forest at altitudes of between seven thousand and nine thousand feet. Usually monkeys keep to the security of the high trees where they are safe from leopards and other tree climbing predators. They eat the juicy leaves of a scencio climber, the leaves of an imparted pepper tree. They also eat leaves from the undergrowth. The white patch below the tail can identify the sexes, which are a complete ring in males and a broken ring in females. They eat fruit, leaves of all kinds, flowers and even twigs with the Red Colobus types foraging on a greater range of tree species than the black and white forms.

In Conclusion the Colobus Monkey is a very unique monkey. The Colobus Monkey’s hair has is very unique. They are very energetic when with others or alone and is a very intelligent compared to some other monkeys. The Colobus Monkey has the most exclusive features. Out of all the monkeys in Africa the Colobus is different because of its many colors of hair. Its social behavior is amazing because of how much the monkeys care for one another and the primate’s intelligence is unbelievable all the way from their quick wits and fast maneuvering.