Miss Waldron's red colobus
Miss Waldron's red colobus[1] | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
Family: | Cercopithecidae |
Genus: | Piliocolobus |
Species: | P. waldronae
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Binomial name | |
Piliocolobus waldronae (Hayman, 1936)
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Miss Waldron's red colobus historic range shown in red |
Miss Waldron's red colobus (Piliocolobus waldronae)
Miss Waldron's red colobus was discovered in December 1933 by
Description
Black fur covers the majority of Miss Waldron's red colobus, but a distinctive pattern of bright red fur can be found on its forehead and thighs, allowing it to be distinguished from
Ecology and status
High-canopy forests (rainforests) in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire serve as the exclusive habitat of Miss Waldron's red colobus. The monkey usually formed large family groups of 20 or more. It is a social and highly vocal animal, frequently communicating with others using loud calls, shrieks and chattering. Its strategy for safety depends on using the many eyes and ears of the group.
Fruit, seeds and foliage provide the primary food source of Miss Waldron's red colobus. The
Decline to (near-)extinction
The monkey was frequently (and illegally) poached for bushmeat, with little interference by local governments. Habitat destruction also played a role in its decline. Miss Waldron's red colobus is the first primate to be suspected extinct in the 21st century, but there is considerable debate over whether this assessment is indeed correct.
A series of forest surveys, conducted by the
However,
- In 2000, McGraw was given a black monkey tail which DNA tests proved to be from a red colobus. The hunter who gave McGraw the tail claimed he had shot the monkey the previous year.
- In 2001, an Ivorian hunter gave McGraw a piece of reddish monkey skin believed to be from Miss Waldron's red colobus.
- That same year, McGraw received from an associate in Africa a photograph of what appeared to be an adult Miss Waldron's red colobus which had been killed. Experts who have examined the photograph attest to its likely authenticity.
Presumably, a relict population of the monkey still is found in the Ehy Forest (also Ehi or Tanoé Forest) near the mouth of the
References
- ^ OCLC 62265494.
- ^ . Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ISBN 978-8496553897.
- ISBN 9780198703396.
- ^ "Natural History Museum: Search Results". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ S2CID 861418.
- ^ "African monkey is pronounced extinct". CNN.com. 2000. Archived from the original on July 2, 2004. Retrieved 2006-02-26.
- ^ McGraw, W. Scott (2000). "Looking for Lost Monkeys".
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(help)[permanent dead link] - ^ a b Oates, John F.; Abedi-Lartey, Michael; McGraw, W. Scott; Struhsaker, Thomas T. & Whitesides, George H. (October 2000). "Extinction of a West African Red Colobus Monkey". The Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. 14 (5). Archived from the original on 2005-12-26. Retrieved 2006-02-26.
- ^ McGraw, W. Scott & Oates, John F. (2002). "Evidence for a surviving population of Miss Waldron's red colobus". Oryx. 36 (3): 223.
- ^ "New Evidence Suggests That Monkey Thought Extinct Still Exists". ScienceDaily. 2004. Retrieved 2006-02-26.
- ^ "The Search for Lost Species". Global Wildlife Conservation.
Further reading
- Lazaroff, Cat (2001). "Bushmeat Hunting Threatens African Wildlife". Environment News Service. Retrieved 2006-02-26.
- Tidwell, John (2004). "Requiem for a Primate". ZooGoer. 33 (5). Archived from the original on 2006-02-17.