Red-eared Nose-spotted Monkey (Cercopithecus erythrotis)


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

RANGE:
The red-eared nose-spotted monkey is found in the countries of Cameroon and Nigeria. This species lives in the lowland and montane rainforests.

ECOLOGY:
The red-eared nose spotted monkey eats arthropods, leaves, and shoots. Group sizes for this species range from 4 to 35 individuals. This is a diurnal and arboreal species. Groups forage as a single unit in this species (Wolfheim, 1983).

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

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR:
The red-eared nose-spotted monkey has mixed species associations with Cercopithecus nictitans in Cameroon. These groups may form for the purposes of protection against predators. More eyes and ears watching for predators would give a better chance of detecting them, thus forming large groups would be advantageous for both species, also both species feed at different levels in the forest, thus there is no competition for resources between these two species. The red-eared nose-spotted monkey has a unimale social group, with many breeding females, but only one adult male in the group, and he receives all of the copulations.

VOCAL COMMUNICATION:

OLFACTORY COMMUNICATION:

VISUAL COMMUNICATION:
staring: This display by the red-eared nose-spotted 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-eared nose-spotted monkey and head bobs up and down (Estes, 1991). This often occurs with staring with open mouth (Estes, 1991).

TACTILE COMMUNICATION:

REPRODUCTION:
The red-eared nose-spotted 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.

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

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

Wolfheim, J.H. 1983. Primates of the World: Distribution , Abundance, and Conservation. University of Washington Press.

Last Updated: October 6, 2003.
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