Grivet
Grivet[1] | |
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Amora Gedel Park, Awasa, Ethiopia
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
Family: | Cercopithecidae |
Genus: | Chlorocebus |
Species: | C. aethiops
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Binomial name | |
Chlorocebus aethiops | |
Grivet range |
The grivet (Chlorocebus aethiops) is an
Physical description
The grivet's facial skin, hands, and feet are black. The face has a white line above the eyes. It has long, white whiskers on the cheeks. The fur on the back has an olive color, while the front is white. The skin on the stomach has a blue tint. The fur has a bristly feel. The approximate head and body length for males is 49 cm (19 in) and 42.6 cm (16.8 in) for females.[5] The length of the tail for males is about 30–50 cm (12–20 in).[6] The body mass ranges from 3.4 to 8.0 kg (7.5 to 17.6 lb), with females at the smaller end of the scale.[5]
Habitat and distribution
The main habitat of the grivet is savanna woodlands.[2] Its range is Sudan east of the White Nile, Eritrea, and Ethiopia east to the Rift Valley.[1][7] It is also found in Djibouti.[2] The grivet needs to live around a source of water, especially during the dry season. It is able to adapt to many environments.[2]
Local and indigenous names
In Tigrinya language: ወዓግ (wi’ag)[7]
Behavior
The grivet is most active in the morning and early evening. It stays on the ground most of the day to eat, and at night it sleeps in trees. The grivet spends a lot of time grooming, playing, climbing, and play fighting; all of these things help to ensure its survival. Its eating habits consist of eating mostly fruits, vegetables, and sometimes small mammals, insects, and birds, making it an
Females will have a limited number of mates, while males may have several.
Conservation
Grivets are occasionally hunted as bushmeat. They are killed for either commercial or subsistence purposes. Although not endangered, they are threatened through destruction of habitat - forests. They are preyed on by large snakes, leopards, humans, and sometimes baboons.[9] Grivets may live for 13 years.[5]
Relationship with humans
The grivet is one of five species of monkeys known to have been kept in
Grivets are depicted on Egyptian tombs as house pets and on leashes. In some depictions, they may symbolize male sexuality. Early Dynastic statuettes of grivets have been found in sanctuaries, where they may have been votive offerings to the baboon god. A grivet shooting a bow was an aspect of the invisible god Atum, and at Deltaic Babylon, a grivet was the town god represented by a statue in the temple.[10]
Since the 1960s, the grivet has been harvested on an industrial scale by humans for their kidneys, which are used in poliovirus and adenovirus vaccine production. In 1967, the Marburg virus in grivets caused the death of 31 vaccine manufacturers.[11] In the medical literature, the grivet and the green monkey are often confused. They are also used in medical research such as the testing of dengue vaccines as well as in the testing of human cosmetics.[12]
References
- ^ OCLC 62265494.
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema naturæ. Regnum animale (10th ed.). p. 28. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
- ^ ISBN 0-12-408355-2.
- ^ a b c d e Cawthon Lang KA (2006-01-03). "Primate Factsheets: Vervet (Chlorocebus) Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology". Retrieved 2008-11-12.
- ^ "Vervet Monkeys". Animal Corner. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-030-04954-6. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- .
- ^ Rochester M (1999). "Chlorocebus aethiops". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
- ^ a b Dieter Kessler, "Monkeys and Baboons", in Donald B. Redford (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Oxford University Press, 2001 [online 2005]), retrieved 11 March 2019.
- PMID 23202446.
- S2CID 22690331.