Red-bellied Monkey (Cercopithecus erythrogaster)

MORPHOLOGY:
This species has cheek pouches to carry food in while it forages.

RANGE:
The red-bellied monkey is found in the country of Nigeria. This species lives in dense secondary and riverine rainforests; it is also found in primary lowland rainforest (Cords, 1987).

ECOLOGY:
The red-bellied monkey is primarily a frugivorous species. This is an arboreal and a diurnal species.

LOCOMOTION:
The red-bellied monkey moves through the forest quadrupedally (Fleagle, 1988).

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR:

VOCAL COMMUNICATION:

OLFACTORY COMMUNICATION:

VISUAL COMMUNICATION:
staring: This display by the red-bellied monkey is used as a threat display (Estes, 1991). The eyes are fixed on the stimulus and the eyebrows are raised and the scalp is retracted, the facial skin is also stretched by moving the ears back (Estes, 1991). Underneath the eye lids the color is different which contrasts sharply with the surrounding facial color (Estes, 1991)

staring with open mouth: This is the stare accompanied by the mouth being open but the teeth are covered (Estes, 1991). This is a threat expression and often occurs with head-bobbing (Estes, 1991).

head-bobbing: This is used as a threat display by the red-bellied monkey and head bobs up and down (Estes, 1991). This often occurs with staring with open mouth (Estes, 1991).

TACTILE COMMUNICATION:

REPRODUCTION:
The red-bellied monkey gives birth to a single offspring.

presenting: This behavior is preformed by the female to elicit copulation from the male; this pattern tells the male that she is ready for copulation (Estes, 1991).

REFERENCES:
Burton, Frances. 1995. The Multimedia Guide to the Non-human Primates. Prentice-Hall Canada Inc.

Cords, M. 1987. Forest Guenons and Patas Monkeys: Male-Male Competition in One-Male Groups. In Primate Societies. Eds. B.B. Smuts, D.L. Cheney, R.M. Seyfarth, R.W. Wrangham, and T.T. Struhsaker. University of Chicago Press.

Estes, R.D. 1991. The Behavior Guide to African Mammals. University of California Press.

Fleagle, John G. 1988. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press.

Last Updated: October 6, 2003.
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