White naped Mangabey
White naped Mangabey
Witkruinmangabey
Cercocebus lunulatus
This now distinct species is considered to have a geographic range east of the Sassandra River to the west of the Volta River in Ghana; Cercocebus lunulatus is also recorded as inhabiting forests in southwestern Burkina Faso and northeastern Ivory Coast. Cercocebus lunulatus is considered Endangered by the IUCN.
Mangabeys are some of the most rare and endangered monkeys on Earth. These large forest dwellers are found only in Africa. They look somewhat like guenons but are bigger. Local people call some of them "the ones with the thin waist" or "four-eyed monkeys," because some kinds of mangabeys have bright white eyelids.
All mangabeys have a tail that is longer than their body, providing balance for them as they scamper through the rain forest canopy.
Mangabeys can be golden brown, gray, dark brown, or soft black, depending on the species or subspecies, usually with a lighter color on the underbelly.
Mangabeys have some interesting ways of communicating with each other. It's often hard to see one another in the dense forest canopy, so sound is very important. In fact, mangabeys can be very noisy!
White is an important color when you need to get your point across. White-collared mangabeys use movements of their white-tipped tails to express themselves. White hair on the underside of the chin helps make other facial gestures more noticeable. For white-eyelid mangabeys, batting their eyelids and raising their eyebrows can have a whole range of meanings. Making these facial expressions and flashing their white eyelids against their darker fur help get the message across. Flashing eyelids can mean "warning—watch your step!"
Like most monkeys, mangabeys are very much at home in trees, spending most of their time there. However, white-eyelid mangabeys are also comfortable on the ground, traveling on their hands and feet between patches of forest or to forage in the leaf litter for tasty food items. In some areas of the forest, the ground is swampy, but that’s not a problem for mangabeys. Webbing between their fingers and toes helps these amazing monkeys swim!
All mangabeys are excellent jumpers, and gray-cheeked mangabeys and white-collared mangabeys have a tail that is strong enough to hook onto branches as they leap about the forest canopy.
Mangabeys are mainly fruit eaters, although they can also eat leaves, nuts, seeds, insects, and spiders. Powerful teeth and jaws help them crack hard nut shells or bite into thick-skinned fruits. Mangabeys also tear bark from trees using their teeth and hands to find bugs and spiders hiding underneath. Large cheek pouches act like a shopping cart: mangabeys fill their pouches with food until full! The biggest meal of the day for mangabeys is breakfast, and they start foraging for food in the early morning, often before the sun comes up.
Like many monkeys, mangabeys lick nectar from flowers, moving from tree to tree for this sweet feast, earning them status as pollinators as well as seed dispersers.
Mangabeys live in groups, called troops, of about 10 to 40 individuals, depending on the species and the availability of food and habitat. There is usually one adult male that acts as leader and the troop's defender, but sometimes larger troops have two or three adult males that split off with their own family units to forage for food. When there is plenty of food available, mangabey troops often gather together for a while and even exchange troop members.
Much like baboons, a female mangabey's buttocks swell when she is ready to breed. This is her visual signal to the adult males.
White naped Mangabey
White naped Mangabey
Witkruinmangabey
Cercocebus lunulatus
This now distinct species is considered to have a geographic range east of the Sassandra River to the west of the Volta River in Ghana; Cercocebus lunulatus is also recorded as inhabiting forests in southwestern Burkina Faso and northeastern Ivory Coast. Cercocebus lunulatus is considered Endangered by the IUCN.
Mangabeys are some of the most rare and endangered monkeys on Earth. These large forest dwellers are found only in Africa. They look somewhat like guenons but are bigger. Local people call some of them "the ones with the thin waist" or "four-eyed monkeys," because some kinds of mangabeys have bright white eyelids.
All mangabeys have a tail that is longer than their body, providing balance for them as they scamper through the rain forest canopy.
Mangabeys can be golden brown, gray, dark brown, or soft black, depending on the species or subspecies, usually with a lighter color on the underbelly.
Mangabeys have some interesting ways of communicating with each other. It's often hard to see one another in the dense forest canopy, so sound is very important. In fact, mangabeys can be very noisy!
White is an important color when you need to get your point across. White-collared mangabeys use movements of their white-tipped tails to express themselves. White hair on the underside of the chin helps make other facial gestures more noticeable. For white-eyelid mangabeys, batting their eyelids and raising their eyebrows can have a whole range of meanings. Making these facial expressions and flashing their white eyelids against their darker fur help get the message across. Flashing eyelids can mean "warning—watch your step!"
Like most monkeys, mangabeys are very much at home in trees, spending most of their time there. However, white-eyelid mangabeys are also comfortable on the ground, traveling on their hands and feet between patches of forest or to forage in the leaf litter for tasty food items. In some areas of the forest, the ground is swampy, but that’s not a problem for mangabeys. Webbing between their fingers and toes helps these amazing monkeys swim!
All mangabeys are excellent jumpers, and gray-cheeked mangabeys and white-collared mangabeys have a tail that is strong enough to hook onto branches as they leap about the forest canopy.
Mangabeys are mainly fruit eaters, although they can also eat leaves, nuts, seeds, insects, and spiders. Powerful teeth and jaws help them crack hard nut shells or bite into thick-skinned fruits. Mangabeys also tear bark from trees using their teeth and hands to find bugs and spiders hiding underneath. Large cheek pouches act like a shopping cart: mangabeys fill their pouches with food until full! The biggest meal of the day for mangabeys is breakfast, and they start foraging for food in the early morning, often before the sun comes up.
Like many monkeys, mangabeys lick nectar from flowers, moving from tree to tree for this sweet feast, earning them status as pollinators as well as seed dispersers.
Mangabeys live in groups, called troops, of about 10 to 40 individuals, depending on the species and the availability of food and habitat. There is usually one adult male that acts as leader and the troop's defender, but sometimes larger troops have two or three adult males that split off with their own family units to forage for food. When there is plenty of food available, mangabey troops often gather together for a while and even exchange troop members.
Much like baboons, a female mangabey's buttocks swell when she is ready to breed. This is her visual signal to the adult males.