Sun-tailed monkey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sun-tailed monkey |
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| Genus: |
Allochrocebus
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| Species: |
solatus
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The sun-tailed monkey (Allochrocebus solatus) lives in Gabon, a country in Africa. It is one of the least studied monkeys in its home. Scientists first found this monkey as a new species in 1988.
It belongs to a group of monkeys called guenons. These monkeys were first placed in the Cercopithecus group. Later, they were moved to the Allochrocebus group. The sun-tailed monkey is closely related to A. preussi and A. Ihoesti. Scientists found this out by studying their chromosomes.
Sun-tailed monkeys like to live in shady places with lots of plants. Even if some trees are cut down, their groups can still do well. We don't know much about what they eat, but they really like fruit.
Their social groups usually have one male and many females. Sun-tailed monkeys are usually less aggressive towards their family members. This is interesting because other monkey species can be very aggressive towards their relatives. In their groups, young monkeys prefer their mothers over their fathers. They are also less aggressive to other monkeys they spend a lot of time with.
Protecting Sun-tailed Monkeys
The sun-tailed monkey is a protected animal. It is listed under the African Convention and CITES (a global agreement to protect wildlife). The government of Gabon made it a protected species in 1994. Some of these monkeys are kept in zoos or special centers.
About 10% of their home is inside Lopé National Park. This park helps protect them. However, the place where most sun-tailed monkeys live, called Foret des Abeilles, is not yet protected.
Experts suggest that people should watch out for hunting and logging in the monkey's habitat. More research is also needed to learn where these monkeys live and how they behave. Sometimes, monkeys are reported to eat crops from local farms. But we don't know much about how these interactions affect the monkey groups.
Learning About Their Health
The sun-tailed monkey is one of the least known primates in the world. There is only one group of these monkeys living in a special center. Because of this, we don't know much about their genes or body chemistry.
However, some scientists have studied their blood. They found that male sun-tailed monkeys have higher levels of hemoglobin and hematocrit. These are parts of the blood that carry oxygen. Female monkeys, though, have higher levels of cholesterol and more white blood cells called neutrophils.
As sun-tailed monkeys get older, their blood urea levels go up, and albumin protein levels go down. This might mean their liver, kidneys, and muscles don't work as well as they age.
Images for kids
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A sun-tailed monkey.
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Map showing where sun-tailed monkeys live.
