Diana Monkey (Cercopithecus diana)

MORPHOLOGY: The average body mass for an adult male Diana monkey is around 5 kilograms, and for the female it is around 4 kilograms. The facial pelage (hair) color is black and is surrounded by a white beard. The canines of this species shows sexual dimorphism. This species has cheek pouches to carry food in will it forages. RANGE: The Diana monkey is found in the countries of Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. This species is primarily found in primary and secondary forests. The Diana monkey lives in the upper canopy of the forest (Estes, 1991).

ECOLOGY: The Diana monkey is primarily and frugivore and seeding species, that also does consume leaves and arthropods. The size of the groups range from 14 to 50 individuals. This is an arboreal and a diurnal species. LOCOMOTION: The Diana monkey moves through the forest quadrupedally (Fleagle, 1988). SOCIAL BEHAVIOR: The Diana monkey has a unimale social structure (Byrne et al., 1983). Males tend to disperse from their natal groups and females are philopatric, that is they remain in their natal group through adulthood (Cords, 1987).

VOCAL COMMUNICATION:
hack: This call is emitted by the adult male in response to either a predator or another troop (Estes, 1991). The call is used as a warning signal of danger, to restore the troop after it has dispersed, and to threaten the source of danger to the troop (Estes, 1991).

OLFACTORY COMMUNICATION: VISUAL COMMUNICATION: staring: This display by the Diana 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 Diana monkey and head bobs up and down (Estes, 1991). This often occurs with staring with open mouth (Estes, 1991).

TACTILE COMMUNICATION:

REPRODUCTION:
The Diana 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. Byrne, R.W., Conning, A.M., and Young, J. 1983. Social Relationships in a Captive Group of Diana Monkeys (Cercopithecus diana). Primates, Vol. 24, 360-370. 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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