Colobus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Colobus |
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| Mantled guereza (Colobus guereza) | |
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Colobus
Illiger, 1811
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Colobus satanas |
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Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus Colobus, native to Africa. They are closely related to the brown colobus monkeys of genus Piliocolobus. The word "colobus" comes from Greek κολοβός kolobós ("docked"), and is so named because in this genus, the thumb is a stump.
Colobuses are herbivorous, eating leaves, fruit, flowers, and twigs. Their habitats include primary and secondary forests, forests, and wooded grasslands; they are found more in higher-density logged forests than in other primary forests. Their ruminant-like digestive systems have enabled these leaf-eaters to occupy niches that are inaccessible to other primates.
Colobuses live in territorial groups of about nine individuals, based upon a single male with a number of females and their offspring. Newborn colobuses are completely white. Cases of female members of the troop other than the infant's biological mother care for it.
These monkeys are important for seed dispersal through their sloppy eating habits, as well as through their digestive systems. They are prey for many forest predators, and are threatened by hunting for the trade, logging, and habitat destruction.
Images for kids
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A multi-male unit of Angolan colobus in a multilevel society
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Angolan black-and-white colobus with infant.
See also
In Spanish: Colobus para niños
