OBSERVATIONS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OLIVE COLOBUS MONKEY, PROCOLOBUS VERUS (van BENEDEN)

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Summary.: The Olive Colobus is a unique African member of the Colobidae, in that it is dull in colour, the sexes are equal in size, and it is monotypic over a wide range. It is a leaf‐eater in low levels of the stratified High Forest zone of West Africa, showing a marked tendency to feed, move and sleep in dense foliage. Consequently, it is, though fairly common, difficult to observe. Troops are small, and leadership by a dominant male, common in other species, is not observable. There is a marked tendency to aggregate at feeding‐places with other species of different dietary habits. This appears to be a protective habit. The young infant is carried in the mouth, an unusual habit among monkeys. It is possible that many of the characteristics of the Olive Colobus, and some of those of the Red Colobus, may be explained by an abnormal hormone balance, involving high concentrations of oestrogens.