The mona monkey (''Cercopithecus mona'') is an

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 ...

that lives in western Africa between Ghana and Cameroon. The mona monkey can also be found on the island of

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

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 thirty-five in forests. It mainly feeds on fruit, but sometimes eats insects and leaves. The mona monkey has brown

agouti The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Central America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have also been introduced else ...

fur with a white rump. Its tail and legs are black and the face is blue-grey with a dark stripe across the face. The mona monkey carries food in cheek pouches.

Description

The male mona monkey has a head-and-body length of and a tail of . The female's head-and-body length is . The head has a brown crown, broad whitish brow band, grey mask of bare skin and bushy pale cheek fur. The upper parts of the body and the outer sides of the limbs are deep brown while the underparts and the insides of the limbs are creamy-white. On either side of the base of the tail are a pair of patches of white hair which closely resemble the ischial callosities found in

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the biology, genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys, in the family Cercopithecidae. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow ba ...

s and other Old World monkeys in this position.

Distribution and habitat

The mona monkey is native to the lowland forests of eastern Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and western Cameroon. It has also been introduced into

and

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

. Although mainly a forest species, it is able to adapt to heavily degraded forest, gallery forest in savannah regions, and mangrove forest in the delta region of the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...

, and is generally the commonest monkey near rivers.

Ecology

The mona monkey is usually found in groups of about twelve individuals, with a single mature male, but larger aggregations also occur. The troop moves through the canopy foraging mainly for fruit, but also eating flowers, seeds and insects and other invertebrates. It is a vocal species with a harsh grating call, and the male issues a "ooer" alarm call. It often associates with other species of monkeys including Lowe's mona monkey (''Cercopithecus lowei'') and the crested mona monkey (''Cercopithecus pogonias'').

Status

The mona monkey is a common and adaptable species. Its natural forest habitat has been impacted by much

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and it suffers from being hunted for food. However the population does not seem to be declining significantly, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has assessed its conservation status as being near-threatened. Mona Monkey at LCC Nigeria

File:Cercopithecus mona.jpg, Mona monkey File:Mona Monkey, Cercopithecus mona.jpg, Feral mona monkey on Grenada File:Mona monkey and baby.jpg File:Mona monkey Lagos Nigeria.ogv, A wild Mona monkey in Lagos State, Nigeria

References

BBC Science and Nature

External links