Thursday, August 30, 2012

Thursday's Monkey Butt

Happy Thursday my Dingleberries,
Welcome back to this weeks Monkey Butt.  
It's been a hecktic week and this one isn't going to be riddled with poo fling or anything, just direct and to the point I guess. I think this guy is super cute though. Check it out!




COLOBUS MONKEY

Physical Characteristics
The name “colobus” is derived from the Greek word for “mutilated,” because unlike other monkeys, colobus monkeys do not have thumbs. Their beautiful black fur strongly contrasts with the long white mantle, whiskers and beard around the face and the bushy white tail. The Eastern black-and-white is distinguishable by a U-shaped cape of white hair running from the shoulders to lower back, whereas the Angolan black-and-white has white hairs flaring out only at the shoulders.

Habitat
Two types of black and white colobus monkeys are found in Kenya those that inhabit coastal forests and those in inland high-country areas. Red colobus monkeys are also found in East Africa, but are quite rare. Two other types of colubus monkeys in Africa are the black and the olive.
The colobus lives in all types of closed forests, including montane and gallery forests. Bamboo stands are also popular dwelling spots for the colobus.

Behavior
The colobus is the most arboreal of all African monkeys and rarely descends to the ground. It uses branches as trampolines, jumping up and down on them to get liftoff for leaps of up to 50 feet. They leap up and then drop downward, falling with outstretched arms and legs to grab the next branch. Their mantle hair and tails are believed to act as a parachute during these long leaps.
Colobus monkeys live in troops of about 5 to 10 animals—a dominant male, several females, and young. Each troop has its own territory which is well defined and defended from other troops. Adult troop members, especially males, make croaking roars that can be heard resonating throughout the forest.
Fighting over mates rarely occurs. There is no distinct breeding season although most mating probably occurs during rainy season. Because a female suckles her infant for over a year, an average of 20 months passes before she gives birth again. Other troop members often handle very young infants. In the first month when the infant still has a pink face, it may be handled three to five times an hour in resting groups. Infant mortality is high even though the young are carefully tended.
The newborn colobus monkey is covered with white fur, and at about 1 month gradually begins to change color, finally gaining the black and white adult coloration at about 3 months. The infant monkey is carried on the mother's abdomen, where it clings to her fur. As it matures it spends a lot of time playing with its mother and certain other adults and at about 7 months begins playing with other juveniles. The games they play exercise their bodies, and as they get older, these develop into wrestling matches and mock displays.

Diet
Colobus monkeys are strictly leaf-eaters and spend most of their time in treetops, preferring to eat the tender young leaves found there. However, complex stomachs enable them to digest mature or toxic foliage that other monkeys cannot.


Predators and Threats
At one time the colobus was hunted excessively for its beautiful fur, leading to its extermination in some areas. Its skin has been used to make dance costumes, hats and capes. Today, the greatest threat to its continued existence comes from loss of habitat as forests are cut down.



Did You Know?
  • The name colobus derives from a word meaning "mutilated one" because unlike other monkeys they do not have thumbs.
  • The monkeys communicate with a songlike call, a warning call and a mating call. Local tradition says they are good weather forecasters because they become silent when bad weather is coming.







**addendum, note to reader, this weeks work is not that of yours truly, please take the time to check the source, as you will tell it's a copy paste from that site.  Forgive my slackness, I'm so busy with the move.**

16 comments:

  1. Let's just hope the male's winker is not as long as one of those tails!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just reminds me of the one where the two guys are in a bar when a Koala comes in. Orders a burger as the guys watch amazed. The waiter gives him a bill, he pulls out a gun and shoots him. He walks out and the guys call the cops. The cops come in, look around, start to leave. "Aren't you going to question witnesses?" the guys say. "We already know who did it," the cops say. Hand them a dictionary open to Koala. Definition: "Koala. Eats shoots and leaves." Ba-dum-DUM!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great post MB. Informative. Thanx...

    ReplyDelete
  4. They are beautiful. Whenever we go to the zoo I love to watch them jump and move. Even with my bad eyes I enjoy watching them.. Don't forget the book fair/fund raiser this weekend. 10 free downloadable books and reduced price books to raise money for the diabetes association. Hope you join us. Sorry it's been awhile. My eyes have been bad lately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never seen any of these at the zoo, heck I haven't been to the zoo since I was a kid. I thought this one was so pretty though!

      Delete
  5. I love learning about beautiful creatures like this one and you covered him well. Like Melynda I love to be near them and watch them interact with humans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't take the praise for this one, I straight copy and paste this bad boy from the interwebs, that's why there were so many source clickers. bad I know, but I'm so busy this week. Forgive me!

      Delete
  6. **note to my readers, this is not the original work of this MB, I took the liberty of copy and paste, so be sure to check out the source this week.**

    ReplyDelete
  7. No thumbs? Whatever the source, I love interesting tidbits.

    ReplyDelete

Dingleberry says: