__NOTOC__ Talapoins () are the two species of

Old World monkey Old World monkeys are primates in the family Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons (genus '' Papio''), red colobus (genus '' Piliocolob ...

s classified in genus ''Miopithecus''. They live in central

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, with their

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

extending from

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. With a typical length of and a weight of approximately (males) and (females), talapoins are the smallest Old World monkeys. Their fur is grey green on top and whitish on their underside, much like the

vervet monkey The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus '' Chlorocebus''. The five distin ...

s. The head is round and short-snouted with a hairless face. Talapoins are diurnal and

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

, preferring rain forest or mangroves near water. They are usually not found in open fields, nor do they seem to be disrupted by humans. Like

Allen's swamp monkey The Allen's swamp monkey (''Allenopithecus nigroviridis'') is a species of Old World monkey and the only member of the genus ''Allenopithecus''. Phylogenetically, it is a sister clade to the guenons, but differs in dentition and habits. Allen ...

, they can swim well and look in the water for food. These monkeys live in groups of 60 to 100 individuals. They congregate at night in trees close to the water, dividing into smaller subgroups during the day to spread out to find food. Groups are composed of several fully mature males, numerous females and their offspring. Unlike the closely related guenons, they do not have any territorial behaviors. Their vocal repertoire is smaller, as well. Talapoins are

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize t ...

s; their diet consists mainly of fruits, seeds, aquatic plants, insects, shellfish, bird eggs and small vertebrates. Their 160-day gestation period (typically from November to March) results in the birth of a single young. Offspring are large, well developed — newborns weigh over , which is about a quarter of the weight of the mother — and develop rapidly. Within six weeks, they eat solid food, and at three months of age, they are independent. The greatest recorded age of a talapoin in captivity was 28 years, while the life expectancy in the wild is not well known.

Species

Etymology

''Talapoin'' is a 16th-century French word for a Buddhist monk, from Portuguese ''talapão'', from Mon ''tala pōi'' "our lord"; originally jocular, from the appearance of the monkey.

References

Sources

External links

Primate Info Net ''Miopithecus'' Factsheets
{{Taxonbar, from=Q244245 Primates of Africa Fauna of Central Africa Cercopithecini Taxa named by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire