The Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a primate A primate is a member of the biological order Primates (/prаɪˈmeɪtiːz/ prī·mā′·tēz; Latin: "prime, first rank"), the group that contains lemurs, the Aye-aye, lorisids, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including great apes. With the exception of humans, who inhabit every continent on Earth,[a] most of the Cercopithecidae The Old World monkeys or Cercopithecidae are a group of primates, falling in the superfamily Cercopithecoidea in the clade Catarrhini. The Old World monkeys are native to Africa and Asia today, inhabiting a range of environments from tropical rain forest to savanna, scrubland, and mountainous terrain, and are also known from Europe in the fossil (Old-world monkeys A monkey is any cercopithecoid or platyrrhine (New World monkey) primate. All primates that are not prosimians (lemurs and tarsiers) or apes are monkeys. The 264 known extant monkey species represent two of the three groupings of simian primates (the third group being the 21 species of apes). Monkeys are usually smaller and/or longer-tailed than) family, closely related to the baboons Baboons are African Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominid members of the primate order; only the Mandrill and the Drill are larger. Previously, the closely related Gelada and two species of Mandrill and Drill (genus Mandrillus) were and even more closely to the Drill. Both the Mandrill and the Drill were once classified as baboons in genus Papio Baboons are African Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominid members of the primate order; only the Mandrill and the Drill are larger. Previously, the closely related Gelada and two species of Mandrill and Drill (genus Mandrillus) were, but recent research has determined that they should be separated into their own genus The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with Greek: γένος - genos, "race, stock, kin", Mandrillus. The Mandrill is the world's largest species of monkey. The word mandrill means "man-ape" according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
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Description
The Mandrill is recognized by its olive The Olive is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin, from Lebanon, Syria and the maritime parts of Turkey and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea. Its fruit, the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil-colored fur and the colorful face and rump of males, a coloration that grows stronger with sexual maturity; females have duller colors. This coloration becomes more pronounced as the monkey becomes excited and is likely to be an example of sexual selection. The coloration on the rump is thought to enhance visibility in the thick vegetation of the rainforest and aids in group movement.
Males average 55-60 lbs (25-30 kg), females about half as much (11.5-13.6 kg or 25-30 lbs). Unusually large males can weigh 110 lbs (50 kg).[2] The average male is 81 cm (32 in) and the female is 56 cm (22 in), with the tail adding another 5-8 cm (2-3 in).[3] They can survive up to 31 years in captivity. Females reach sexual maturity at about 3.5 years.
Habitat
The Mandrill is found in the tropical The tropics, seated in the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' N latitude, and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23°26' (23.4°) S latitude. The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone (see rainforests Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm . The monsoon trough, alternately known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating Earth's tropical rain forests of southern Cameroon The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic, Gabon Gabon is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with the Gulf of Guinea to the west, Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, and Cameroon to the north, with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. Its size is almost 270,000 km² with an estimated population of 1,500,000. The capital and largest city is Libreville. Since, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo The Republic of the Congo , also known as Congo-Brazzaville or the Congo, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea. Its distribution is bounded by the Sanaga River to the north and the Ogooué and Ivindo rivers to the east. Recent research suggests that mandrill populations north and south of the Ogooué river are so genetically different as to be separate subspecies The scientific name of a subspecies is a trinomen, that is a binomen followed immediately by a subspecific name, e.g. Homo sapiens sapiens and Panthera tigris sumatrae (Sumatran Tiger). The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (4th edition, 1999) accepts only one rank below that of species, namely this rank of subspecies. Other groupings,.
Behavior
Mandrills are social creatures A social animal is a loosely defined term for an organism that is highly interactive with other members of its species to the point of having a recognizable and distinct society and live in large groups, primarily including females and young and led by a single dominant male. Most adult males are solitary. It is difficult to accurately estimate group size Many animals, including humans, tend to live in groups, herds, flocks, bands, packs, shoals, or colonies of conspecific individuals. The size of these groups, as expressed by the number of participant individuals, is an important aspect of their social environment. Group size tend to be highly variable even within the same species, thus we often in the forest, but filming a group crossing a gap between two forest patches or crossing a road is a reliable way of estimating group size. The largest group verifiably observed in this way contained over 1300 individuals, in Lopé National Park, Gabon - the largest aggregation The term swarm can be applied to fish, insects, birds as well as various microorganisms, such as bacteria, and describes a behaviour of an aggregate of animals of similar size and body orientation, generally moving in the same direction. Group size is a major aspect of the social environment of participants of non-human primates ever recorded [1].
The Mandrill is an omnivore Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source. They are opportunistic, general feeders not specifically adapted to eat and digest either meat or plant material exclusively. Pigs are one well-known example of an omnivore. Crows are another example of an omnivore that many people see every day. Humans are also and acquires its food by foraging (mainly plants, insects and smaller animals) from the ground as it is terrestrial Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land, as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats (e.g., frogs). Terrestrial animals evolved from marine animals (aquatic animals living in the ocean). The. Its main natural predators are leopards The leopard is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera; the other three are the tiger, lion and jaguar. Once distributed across southern Asia and Africa, from Korea to South Africa, the leopard's range of distribution has decreased radically over time due to hunting and loss of habitat,, pythons and man.
A large group of mandrills can cause significant damage to crops in a very short time, and where common they are widely perceived as pests.
Mandrills are hunted for food throughout their range, either with guns or using dogs and nets. In Cameroon, habitat loss to agriculture is also a threat.
Although the Mandrill does not normally hunt larger prey, males have been observed to hunt and consume duiker A duiker is any of about 19 small to medium-sized antelope species from the subfamily Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa (a small antelope).
Reproduction
Mandrill at Singapore Zoo The Singapore Zoo , formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens and commonly known locally as the Mandai Zoo, occupies 28 hectares (0.28 km²) of land on the margins of Upper Seletar Reservoir within Singapore's heavily forested central catchment area. The zoo was built at a cost of S$9m granted by the government of Singapore and opened on 2The gestation Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time . The time interval of a gestation plus 2 weeks is called gestation period, and the length of time plus 2 weeks that the offspring have spent developing in the uterus is called gestational age (pregnancy) time for the Mandrill is 6–7 months and young are usually born between January and April. However, the mandrill mates throughout the year during the estrous cycle The estrous cycle comprises the recurring physiologic changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian placental females. Humans undergo a menstrual cycle instead. Estrous cycles start after puberty in sexually mature females and are interrupted by anestrous phases or pregnancies. Typically estrous cycles continue until death, which occurs once every 33 days. The interbirth interval is typically 13-14 months.
Courtship
Canadian Researcher William Sommers has found that during courtship, the female will walk after the male. If the male is interested he will stop and turn towards her. He will then mount her and they will copulate.
Parenting
Mandrill infants are born with their eyes open and with fur. They have a black coat and pink skin for the first two months. They cling to their mother's belly immediately and can support their own weight. Mothers form bonds with their children. These bonds last into adulthood with the daughters, while the bonds with the sons last only until his sexual maturity. These bonds entail the two sitting with each other and grooming In social animals such as humans social grooming or allogrooming is an activity in which individuals in a group clean or maintain each other's body or appearance. It is a major social activity, and a means by which animals who live in proximity can bond and reinforce social structures, family links, and build relationships. Social grooming is also each other.
References
- ^ Oates, J. F. & Butynski, T. M. (2008). Mandrillus sphinx. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1948, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species. A series of Regional Red Lists. IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation 2008. Retrieved on 4 January 2009.
- ^ WAZA - World Association of Zoos and Aquariums - Virtual Zoo
- ^ http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-mandrill.html
- Groves, C. Born in England, he completed a BSc in 1963, and a PhD (London) in 1966. He taught at the University of California, Berkeley, Queen Elizabeth College (London) and Cambridge University before emigrating to Australia in 1974, where he taught at the Australian National University (2005-11-16). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds). ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 165. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.
- Nowak, Ronald M (1999). Walker's Primates of the World, 151-152. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-6251-5.
External links
Categories: IUCN Red List vulnerable species | Old World monkeys | Mammals of Africa
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