The Wolf’s guenon, also known as the Wolf’s mona monkey or Cercopithecus wolfi, is one of the most colorful, graceful and lively monkeys found on our planet today. The Wolf’s Guenon is a medium sized African monkey distinguishable by its long tail and large cheeks. Their body length is 16 to 22 inches and can measure up to 60 inches from head to tail. They weigh, on average, six to nine pounds; with males weighing as much as twice the females. In the wild, the Wolf’s guenon’s lifespan is 20 to 30 years. They usually reach maturity between the ages of two years to six years, depending on gender. (“Mammals: Guenon.”) The Wolf’s Guenon is part of the chordata phylum, mammalia class, primate order, cercopithecidae family, and Cercopithecus genus and C. wolfi species, and subspecies: C. wolfi wolfi, and C. wolfi elegans. (“Wolf’s Mona Monkey.”)
The Wolf’s guenon is primarily found in the southern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. The natural habitat of this monkey is: forests, woodlands, and near rivers and streams. These colorful tree dwellers are dark grey/black with a red “saddle” back, and their paleness depends on their subspecies. They typically have a white or yellow underside and belly, black arms and legs, and dark a grey tail with a black underside. Wolf’s guenon has a pale forehead with a black strip above their eyes, stretching from tufted ear to tufted ear. Black and white ear tufts along with black and white specked cheek whiskers give the monkey a grim appearance. Finally, just to make this monkey even more interesting, its scrotum is blue. (“Mammals: Guenon.”)
Within its habitat in the Congo, and with their adaptations and characteristics, the Wolf’s guenon has specific behavioral characteristics. ...
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... to stay in pairs. This enclosure was very different from the first enclosure in which the monkeys were not active. The Pygmy Hippo/ Wolf’s guenon enclosure was very large, and had a dirt floor with boulders for playing on, and two foot logs lying around, a large pond, and strong, real, leafy trees. It was all caged in by fencing with a glass front for viewing. The Wolf’s guenon was clearly more comfortable and active in their more natural habitat, rather than the smaller artificial enclosure. The behavior the monkeys showed in the second enclosure appear to be closer to the behavior described in all of the books/articles that I have read through.
The Wolf’s guenon monkey is a beautiful, interesting and social animal, who appears to be most active and happiest in an environment that is not artificially constructed, and most closely related to its natural habitat.
I visited the Sacramento Zoo during the afternoon of April 21, 2017. The weather was wonderful, sunny, warm, and there was a slight breeze. It got a bit more breezy the longer I was there. Visiting the zoo to observe primates allowed me to become a little more aware of how primatologists study primates. Even though I’ve been to many different zoos several different times, I never realized how many primates were associated with the zoos, as well as the variety of primates in the zoos. The Sacramento Zoo has eight different primates, all in different classifications, superfamilies, or subfamilies. While observing the Chimpanzees, White-Handed Gibbon, Mongoose Lemur, White-Faced Saki, and the Wolf’s Guenon I could see the differences
Noceker, Robert J. ìCongressional Research Service Report for Congress Reintroduction of Wolves.î August 1, 1997. Visited: October 17, 1999.
Quiatt, D., & Reynolds, V. (1993). Primate behaviour: information, social knowledge, and the evolution of culture. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press].
Throughout situations and research conducted by not only Robert Sapolsky or Jane Goodman, but from many other credited sources, we can blatantly see the, if not identical, similarities between the two species of humans and baboons. The most apparent likewise characteristics of this can be read and documented in Professor Sapolsky’s book, A Primate’s Memoirs. Sapolsky, who spent hundreds if not thousands, of hours studying these Savanna Baboons, sheds a vast insight into ideas of social dominance, mating strategies, instinctual prowess, community settings, hygiene, and reform of an entire generation; many of which can be unknowingly seen directly in the common occurrence of a humans daily life.
This report is all about the gray wolf. Its scientific name is Canis Lupis. Canis is the Latin word for dog. The genus also includes jackals and coyotes. Lupis is the Latin word for wolf. Gray wolves look similar to German shepherds, but the wolf has longer legs and bigger feet. The color of a gray wolf can range from black to white, but shades of gray are the most common. A unique feature about gray wolves is that the farther north you find them, the larger they are. Males can range from (nose-to-tail) five to six and a half feet and females range from four and a half to six feet. The normal life span of a wolf is about thirteen years, but most wolves don’t live past ten years for numerous reasons. Examples include disease, hunters, etc. The wolves that live in Arctic climates have very thick coats of fur that keeps them warm. Wolves, like all canines, have 42 teeth. Their “fangs”, or canine teeth, are used to grab prey and like a hook. These teeth can be as long as two and a half inches.
Finally, I will consider the various competitors to survival that exist in the macaque’s environment. According to Gron (2007) the fur of the macaque is brown in colour but varies in shade from a light grey or yellow brown to completely brown. They are most commonly recognised for their pinkish red face. The macaques are predominantly quadrupedal, meaning they use all four limbs to travel across land. The males spend the majority of their time on the ground, while the female takes shelter in the trees.
Despite the fact laboratory studies are vital in order to acquire useful information about culture in primates, it also places the primates in a stricter, unnatural, or unusual location for animals, therefore not allowing them to show their full potential as they do in the wild (Uehara, 2004, p. 108). Cultural behavior in tools (kin based culture) The primate’s intelligence is extraordinary considering how they connect with their environment to survive in everyday life. The ability to learn to use tools to improve the primate’s life is an example of culture and how they survive.
In Franz De Waal’s book Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes, social interactions between the chimpanzees at the Arnhem Zoo in Holland are examined. De Waal spends time observing the lives of these animals and comparing them and their ‘culture’ to human culture. The book follows a power struggle between the three dominant male chimps, Yeroen, Luit, and Nikkie. The book does not exclude female chimps and talks about how they influence the role the alpha males play.
The brown spider monkey is a species of spider monkey that inhabits areas of the continent of South America. The scientific name of the spider monkey is Ateles, while that of the brown spider monkey is Ateles hybridus. The habitat of the brown spider monkey consists of the undisturbed evergreen rainforests located in the subtropical and tropical lowlands of both Colombia and Venezuela. There are two subspecies of the brown spider monkey, Ateles hybridus hybridus and Ateles hybridus brunneus. (According to_____) Hybridus hybridus inhabits both Colombia and Venezuela in rainforests extending from the right of the banks of the Rio Magdalena River into western Venezuela. The latter subspecies, on the other hand, can only be found in the Colombian geographic departments of Bolivar, Antioquia, and Caldas. Brown spider monkeys reside mainly in the high canopy of the rainforests though they can also be found in the middle and lower strata. To travel the brown spider monkey hangs, swinging from branch to branch, rather than walking or running on all fours. The brown spider monkey is very well...
Primate socioecology studies the impact of ecology on the social behavior of primates. A socio-ecological model focuses on the behavioural trends in individuals and the resulting social system that arises as a result (Schaik, C. et al., 1996). Another main principle of socioecology is to understand the evolution of social systems, including group characteristics and the social to mating dynamics. The theoretical framework of socioecology concentrates on the concept of traditionally largely impacting ecological factors especially predations risk and resource distribution. This framework is supported by a multitude of tests correlating with the specific predictions from the model (Kappeler, et al., 2003). Socioecology was first demonstrated in
Reaching into Thought: The Minds of the Great Apes, ed. A. E. Russon, K. A. Bard & S. T. Parker, pp. 257–77. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
To wrap up, researchers have found that there is a very clear difference in the behavior of observed chimps and those who are observed naturally. The presence of observers clearly changes the behavior and using a human made environment to house them for research is sure to cause abnormal behavior within the chimpanzee communities. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that the future advancement of our understanding of chimpanzees, our closest animal counterparts, is going to be just as dependent on our direct, lab research as it will be on our naturalistic research of the animals.
Chimpanzees (Figure 1) are the closest living relatives to us, and they share 99 percent of our DNA (1). Chimpanzees have distinct group territoriality. Male chimpanzees “patrol” near the boundary between the two ranges, at that time they move very carefully and quietly, and they can cease to listen and observe the range of their neighbors. Patrolling individuals are likely to face cruel and violent attacks, injuries, and even deaths. Intense excitement and aggressive display can occur if the two parties of two communities encounter each other. Usually, the larger group holds its ground, and interaction between different chimpanzees communities may also lead to gang attack. Expanding the community range is necessary to their social organizations, the males cooperation can defend the territory and increase the reproductive rates of the resident females by excluding female and male competitors. Body contact is common in their social life such as grooming (1). Usually, chimpanzees groom each other as a way to show harmony and solidarity in their society (Figure 2). Grooming each other demonstrates the deep bonds and close relationship between them. In addition, they can even hug, hold hands, touch, kiss each other as a way of emotional expression (2).
Jane Goodall’s books, Through a Window, In the Shadow of Man, and The Chimpanzees of Gombe, recount her many years as an observer of chimpanzees and other species of monkeys. In Through a Window, she gives her account of thirty years with chimpanzees in the village of Gombe, off of Lake Tanganyika. During those thirty years with her son and husband, she observed and researched the chimpanzees with the help of other researchers. This book is a collection of the observations and data, in addition to the emotions she felt during this era. The theme of Through a Window is that chimpanzees have very human characteristics and feelings, and she proves this through her descriptions of love, war, power, and life in general.
Sikes, Roberts. and William L. Gannon. "Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the Use of Wild Mammals in Research." Journal of Mammalogy 92.1 (Feb. 2011): 235-253. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.