De Brazza's Monkey

Taxobox
name = De Brazza's MonkeyMSW3 Groves|pages=157]

---

status = LC
status_system = iucn3.1
status_ref = IUCN2006|assessors=Butynski "et al"|year=2000|id=4223|title=Cercopithecus neglectus|downloaded=12 May 2006]
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Primates
familia = Cercopithecidae
genus = "Cercopithecus"
species = "C. neglectus"
binomial = "Cercopithecus neglectus"
binomial_authority = Schlegel, 1876

De Brazza's Monkey ("Cercopithecus neglectus") is an Old World monkey that gets its name from French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza. Locally known as swamp monkeys, they are often found in wetlands in central Africa. It is very hard to find due to its good hiding abilities, and so there is not an accurate species count.

This guenon has grey agouti fur with a reddish brown back, black limbs and tail and a white rump. A white stripe runs down its thigh, and an orange crescent-shaped marking appears on its forehead. Its white eyelids match its muzzle and beard. Both sexes have cheek pouches in which to carry food while they forage, and males have a blue scrotum.

De Brazza's Monkey ranges across the swamps, bamboo and dry mountain forests of Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Cherangani Hills of Kenya, [cite web|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/p18ku34578782545/|title=The Vanishing De Brazza's Monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus Schlegel) in Kenya
publisher=International Journal of Primatology|accessdate=2008-03-18|last=Karere G. Mugambi, Thomas M. Butynski|first=Mbaruk A. Suleman & Wilbur Ottichilo] Sudan, and Uganda.

De Brazza's Monkey lives for about 22 years.fact|date = February 2008 It is a shy, territorial monkey that lives in small social groups.fact|date = February 2008 At the head of each social group is the strongest male, whose job is to protect his fellow group members.fact|date = February 2008

De Brazza's Monkey communicates with booming sounds, shaking tree branches, and a variety of facial expressions and movements (e.g. shaking its head when stressed out, or nodding with approval).fact|date = February 2008

De Brazza's Monkey is a sexually dimorphic species; males weigh around 7 kilograms, while females weigh around 4.5 kilograms.fact|date = February 2008 Babys weigh about 260 grams.fact|date = February 2008

Predators of the De Brazza's Monkey include the Leopard, humans, and other primates.fact|date = February 2008 However, because of its very good means of protection, De Brazza's Monkey is rarely captured.fact|date = February 2008 Among these means of protection are the ability to freeze when alarmed, and the ability to camouflage very well with its surroundings (hence their scientific name "Cercopithecus neglectus"; "neglectus" refers to its ability to hide and make it hard for predators to find it).fact|date = February 2008

References

* Maria Petringa, "Brazza, A Life for Africa" (2006) ISBN 9781-4259-11980

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/313.shtml BBC Science and Nature]