is found on the western coast of Africa, from Sierra Leone to Tongo. There is also an isolated population in eastern Nigeria.
Olive colobus monkeys are arboreal and are restricted to rainforest habitat. They prefer the dense understory of the forest, often near water.sometimes travels into the middle canopy to sleep, but never ventures to the upper stratum.
is the smallest and the most drab colored of all African colobus monkeys, bearing olive colored hair with a tinge of brown on top and grayish underparts. Weights range from 2 to 4.5 kg, and body lengths of 90 to 430 mm are reported. has a similar body structure to black and white colobus monkeys, but olive colobus monkeys have a small crest on top of the head and the most reduced thumb and largest feet of any colobine. Males are equal in size to females with relatively larger canines than females.
possesses six cusps on the lower third molars.
These colobines are reported to be polygynous.
Olive colobus monkeys have a gestation period of 5 to 6 months, with no specific breeding season. Females reproduce about every two years and usually bear only one young at a time. Females reach sexual maturity around 3 to 4 years old, males around 5 to 6 years old. Female (Flannery, 2000)have perineal organs that swell during estrus.
Female Colobus species. As the young matures, it is carried on the abdomen of the mother. Mothers provide milk, grooming and protection for the young. The role of males in care of infants has not been reported.carry their young around in their mouths for a few weeks after birth, a behavior not observed in
Diana monkeys. When an alarm call is sounded, usually by a Diana monkey, sits very still, camouflaged by the green color of its pelage.is diurnal and uses quadrapedal locomotion. Troops of consist of an old male, several females and their offspring. Group size ranges from 10 to 15 individuals. This species is often seen grouping with other monkeys, especially
Communication in these monkeys is not well described. However, we may assume that they are like other primates, and use various means of communication. Included in these are visual signals, such as facial expressions and body postures, vocalizations, and tactile communication, including grooming, playing, and aggression. (Nowak, 1997)
forage in understory and middle canopy of the forest, feeding mainly on young leaves. These monkeys are highly selective feeder, but seasonally they will also eat seeds, flowers, and petioles. When young foliage is available, they ignore mature leaves. has a sacculated stomach to assist in the breakdown of cellulose in its primarily folivorous diet.
is the most accomplished leaper in the Tai Forest, where it commonly lives. This capability of allows it to avoid predators that share this habitat. It also frequently groups with Diana monkeys to avoid predation. is hunted by humans for its meat and skin.
(Noe and Bshary)
The ecosystem role of these animals is not well understood. We may assume that to the extent that other animals prey upon these monkeys, they serve as a control on predator populations. They may also help to disperse seeds.
Procoloby verus is hunted by humans for food.
There are no known adverse effects ofon humans. However, as primates, they may carry some of the same disease organisms which affect people.
Although this species is not of special conservation concern, all primates are listed as CITES appendix II because they are vulnerable to habitat loss.
Nancy Shefferly (editor), Animal Diversity Web.
Leah Thompson (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Kate Teeter (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.
uses sound to communicate
young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.
Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
union of egg and spermatozoan
an animal that mainly eats leaves.
A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
having more than one female as a mate at one time
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
remains in the same area
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
uses touch to communicate
Living on the ground.
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
uses sight to communicate
reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.
breeding takes place throughout the year
Burton, J., B. Pearson. 1988. The Collins Guide to the Rare Mammals fo the World. Lexington, Massachusetts: The Stephen Greene Press.
Flannery, S. 2000. Accessed September 23, 2001 at www.primate.wisc.edu/pin/factsheets/procolobus_verus.html.
Noe, R., R. Bshary. "Association of red and olive colobus monkeys with diana monkeys" (On-line). Accessed 11/14/2001 at www.mpi-seewiesen.mpg.de/~knauer/noe/taenc.html.
Nowak, R. 1997. "Walker's Mammals of the World/Olive Colobus Monkey" (On-line). Accessed November 12, 2001 at www.press.jhu.edu/walkers_mammals_of_the_world/primates/primates.cercopithecidae.procolobus.html.
Oates, J. 1988. The diet of the olive colobus monkey, *Procolobus verus*, in Sierra Leone. International Journal of Primatology, 9/5: 457-478.
Oates, J., G. Whitesides. 1990. Association between Olive Colobus, *Procolobus verus*, Diana guenons, *Cercopithecus diana*, and other Forest Monkeys in Sierra Leone.. American Journal of Primatology, 21/2: 129-146.