Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Cer­co­p­ithe­cus mitis is found in rain forests of cen­tral, east­ern, and south­ern Africa. The species can also be found in the Congo basin.

• Biogeographic Regions
• ethiopian
  • native

Habi­tat

Cer­co­p­ithe­cus mitis is found in a va­ri­ety of habi­tats. They are very de­pen­dent upon humid, shaded areas with abun­dant water and tall trees which pro­vide both food and shel­ter.

• Habitat Regions
• tropical
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest
• rainforest
• scrub forest

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Blue mon­keys are small (rang­ing in weight from 4 to 6 kg) and ar­bo­real. The face is nearly naked, usu­ally dark in color (in­fre­quently blue), and has well-de­vel­oped mus­cu­la­ture (Lawlor, 1979). Cer­co­p­ithe­cus mitis is also known as the di­ademed mon­key be­cause it has a promi­nent row of for­ward point­ing white fur just above its brow line (Rudran, 1978).

White whiskers are well de­vel­oped in males. Males are larger than fe­males. Male ca­nines are also slightly larger than the fe­male ca­nines (Rudran,1978).

These mon­keys are ca­tarrhine; the nos­trils are close to­gether and they face down­ward. They have cheek pouches to carry food while for­ag­ing (Rudran, 1978).

The den­tal for­mula of C. mitis is 2/2 1/1 3/3 2/2=32.

The nail on each digit is flat­tened, and the pollex is op­pos­able (Lawlor, 1979).

The upper parts of the body are gray and the limbs are darker in ap­pear­ance. Some young have in­dis­tinct rus­set-col­ored rump patches, which has not been seen in adults (Dorst and Dan­de­lot, 1970). (Dorst and Dan­de­lot, 1970; Lawlor, 1979; Rudran, 1978)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger

• Range mass

  4 to 6 kg

  8.81 to 13.22 lb

• Average basal metabolic rate

  19.276 W

  AnAge

Re­pro­duc­tion

Blue mon­keys have a polyg­y­nous mat­ing sys­tem, al­though promis­cu­ous mat­ing has been known to occur (Estes, 1991). Fe­males so­licit cop­u­la­tion from the males using body lan­guage (Estes, 1991). Fe­males pre­sent their hindquar­ters to a male to in­di­cate that they are ready to cop­u­late. Dur­ing cop­u­la­tion, fe­males pout, look­ing over their shoul­der at the male.

• Mating System
• polygynous
• polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Breed­ing oc­curs through­out the year. The ges­ta­tion pe­riod lasts 5 months (Rudran, 1978). The fe­male gives birth to a sin­gle off­spring. The young are weaned at about six months and reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity at about three years (Grz­imck, 1990).

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• year-round breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• fertilization
• viviparous

• Breeding interval

  Females are capable of producing young annually if food is available.

• Breeding season

  Breeding occurs throughout the year.

• Average number of offspring

  1

• Average number of offspring

  1

  AnAge

• Average gestation period

  5 months

• Average gestation period

  132 days

  AnAge

• Average weaning age

  6 months

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  3 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
  Sex: female

  1673 days

  AnAge

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  3 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
  Sex: male

  1673 days

  AnAge

The young are rel­a­tively well de­vel­oped at birth, with open eyes and the ca­pa­bil­ity to grasp their mother and sup­port their own weight (Mac­don­ald, 1984). Fe­males pro­vide their young with milk for about six months. Al­lo­ma­ter­nal care does occur amongst the fe­male troup mem­bers (Bourliere and Bertrand, 1970).

• Parental Investment
• precocial
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• extended period of juvenile learning

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Longevity for this species has not been re­ported, but if C. mitis is like other mem­bers of the genus Cer­co­p­ithe­cus, the max­i­mum lifes­pan is prob­a­bly around 20 years. (Grz­imek, 1994)

• Average lifespan
  Sex: female
  Status: captivity

  25.0 years

  Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

• Average lifespan
  Sex: female
  Status: captivity

  27.1 years

  Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Be­hav­ior

Blue mon­keys are di­ur­nal and ar­bo­real. Cer­co­p­ithe­cus mitis tends to be a so­cial species with group sizes rang­ing from 10 to 40 in­di­vid­u­als. The groups have a uni­male so­cial sys­tem (Estes, 1991). The alpha male re­ceives all of the cop­u­la­tions from the troop fe­males. He also guards the troop against other con­spe­cific troops and males. Fe­males tend to join in con­fronta­tions with other con­spe­cific troops (Estes, 1991). When take-overs occur, the for­mer alpha male is often ousted from the group. Ad­di­tion­ally, blue mon­keys form al­liances with other mon­keys such as Cer­co­p­ithe­cus as­ca­nius. This is prob­a­bly for added pro­tec­tion against preda­tors. Cer­co­p­ithe­cus mitis and C. as­ca­nius do not com­pete for re­sources be­cause they for­age in dif­fer­ent lo­ca­tions in the for­est (Richard, 1985). (Richard, 1985)

• Key Behaviors
• arboreal
• diurnal
• motile
• sedentary
• social
• dominance hierarchies

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

As in other species of pri­mates, com­mu­ni­ca­tion in these mon­keys is likely to be com­plex and var­ied. Be­cause of their fa­cial mark­ings, fa­cial ex­pres­sions are ex­tremely marked. Body pos­tures add to the vi­sual sig­nals used in com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Vo­cal­iza­tions are com­mon in pri­mates and are prob­a­bly used by di­ademed mon­keys. Tac­tile com­mu­ni­ca­tion oc­curs be­tween mates and ri­vals, as well as be­tween moth­ers and their off­spring. Groom­ing is an im­por­tant phys­i­cal ac­tiv­ity which helps to so­lid­ify so­cial bonds. (Grz­imek, 1994; Mac­Don­ald, 1984)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

Blue mon­keys are fru­giv­o­rous and fo­liv­o­rous in na­ture, eat­ing mainly fruits and leaves. In ad­di­tion, blue mon­keys tend to con­cen­trate their in­vete­brate feed­ing on slow-mov­ing slugs and worms (Rudran, 1978).

• Primary Diet
• herbivore
  • folivore
  • frugivore

• Animal Foods
• mollusks
• terrestrial worms

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• fruit

Pre­da­tion

As is true for other for­est dwelling mon­keys, C. mitis likely falls prey to leop­ards. Other po­ten­tial preda­tors in­clude snakes and birds of prey. (Grz­imek, 1994; Mac­Don­ald, 1984)

• Known Predators

  • leopards

Ecosys­tem Roles

As a prey species, these mon­keys prob­a­bly have some im­pact on preda­tor pop­u­la­tions. In ad­di­tion, they are likely to be im­por­tant in seed dis­per­sal be­cause of their fru­givory.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

In Uganda, blue mon­keys are hunted for their meat (Flea­gle, 1988).

• Positive Impacts
• food

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Blue mon­keys eat cul­ti­vated crops and de­stroy ex­otic trees.

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Sur­vival threats to blue mon­keys in­clude habi­tat de­struc­tion, such as the clear­ing of rain forests. Blue mon­keys are also de­stroyed for eat­ing cul­ti­vated crops or de­stroy­ing ex­otic trees (Flea­gle, 1988).

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• US Federal List

  Threatened

• CITES

  Appendix II

Other Com­ments

Blue mon­keys are a so­cial species. An in­ter­est­ing as­pect of the in­ter­spe­cific re­la­tions of blue mon­keys is their in­volve­ment in mixed group­ings con­sist­ing of two or more pri­mate species (Rudran, 1978). Blue mon­key as­so­ci­a­tions with red­tails and red colobus some­times last for six to seven hours within a day (Rudran, 1978). Often, blue mon­keys will as­so­ci­ate with other species to form coali­tions against other groups, to help find food, and also for added pro­tec­tion against preda­tors. With poly­spe­cific as­so­ci­a­tions groups are able to cover a larger area when for­ag­ing for food. They are also able to get a broader view of a large area and warn of an ap­proach­ing preda­tor by alarm calls.

Con­trib­u­tors

Nancy Shef­ferly (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Nicole Strawder (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (ed­i­tor), Mu­seum of Zo­ol­ogy, Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Ref­er­ences

Bourliere, F., C. Hun­keler, M. Bertrand. 1970. Ecol­ogy and Be­hav­iour of Lowe's Guenon (Cer­co­p­ithe­cus cam­belli lowei) in the Ivory Coast. In Old World Mon­keys. Lon­don and New York: Aca­d­e­mic Press.

Dorst, J., P. Dan­de­lot. 1970. A Field Guide to the Larger Mam­mals of Africa. Smith­son­ian Con­tri­bu­tions to Zo­ol­ogy, 136: 313-385.

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

Flea­gle, J. 1988. Pri­mate Adap­ta­tion and Evo­lu­tion. Lon­don and New York: Aca­d­e­mic Press.

Grz­imek, T. 1994. En­cy­clo­pe­dia of Mam­mals. New York: Mc­Graw-Hill Pub­lish­ing Com­pany.

Lawlor, T. 1979. Hand­book to the Or­ders and Fam­i­lies of Liv­ing Mam­mals. Eu­reka: Mad River Press.

Mac­Don­ald, D. 1984. En­cy­clo­pe­dia of Mam­mals. New York: Facts on File Pub­li­ca­tions.

Richard, A. 1985. Sym­pa­try, Com­pe­ti­tion, and the Niche. Chicago: Free­man and Com­pany.

Rudran, R. 1978. So­ci­ol­ogy of the Blue mon­keys (Cer­co­p­ithe­cus mitis stuhlmanni) of the Kibale For­est, Uganda. Smith­son­ian Con­tri­bu­tions to Zo­ol­ogy, 249: 148-236.

Wil­son, D., D. Reeder. 1993. Mam­mal Species of the World. Wash­ing­ton: Smith­son­ian In­sti­tu­tion Press.