The moustached guenon or moustached monkey (Cercopithecus cephus)
The moustached guenon or moustached monkey (Cercopithecus cephus) is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.
This monkey is an arboreal, omnivorous, and medium-sized mammal. According to the IUCN, the population of the moustached monkeys is considered to be large; therefore, they are widely used in biological labs.
Taxonomy
The moustached guenon belongs to the genus Cercopithecus, a genus of Old World monkeys, and in the Cercopithecus cephus group. It is named by its unique moustached face in the monkeys, which has three recognized subspecies: (1) Red-tailed moustached monkey (Cercopithecus cephus cephus); (2) Gray-tailed Moustached Monkey (Cercopithecus cephus cephodes); (3) White-nosed Moustached Monkey (Cercopithecus cephus ngottoensis). However, the Cercopithecus cephus group also includes many other long-tailed monkey that has other unique morphological patterns except the moustache, for example, the regular red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus scanius), the red-bellied monkey (Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster) and the white-throated monkey (Cercopithecus erythrogaster). The diversity of the moustached guenon is one of the highest among Cercopithecus species. In addition, it is not the only primate genus with the "moustached" patterns (see also moustached tamarins).
Habitat area
Cercopithecus cephus is a species of catarrhine primate of the family Cercopithecidae. Cercopithecus cephus is widely distributed in Africa and is found in the following countries: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It inhabits tropical rainforests and secondary forests, as well as gallery forests along riverbanks.
Appearance
This small marmoset is named for the blue colour of its face. Males weigh up to 4 kg and females up to 3 kg, with a body length of 52 cm and a tail length of about 70 cm. Mature males are distinguished by their white whiskers (hence the other name "whiskers"). This species has developed cheek pouches, in which the monkeys hide surplus food. The back and upper part of the neck, the head and also the outer surface of the limbs are olive green with a golden tinge. The underside of the body and the inner surface of the limbs are bluish-grey. There is a white spot on the upper lip. The tail is rusty red along its entire length.
Nutrition
Like other monkey species, Cercopithecus cephus feeds mainly on fruits and oil palm fruits, but also on seeds, leaves, insects and bird eggs.
Behaviour and reproduction
Cercopithecus cephus spends most of its time in the tree canopy. These primates live in groups of 4 to 35 individuals. A single male may mate with several females. Pregnancy lasts 140 days. Females usually give birth to one offspring each, which remains with the mother for about a year.
Impacts from human activities
Poaching, bushmeat market, and pet trading in Western Africa
The moustached monkeys are the main target in the primate poaching activities and the main victim in the western Africa bushmeat market.
Many Cercopithecus cephus infants have been captured and sold to people as pets.
Road constructions
Road construction has fragmented the undisturbed areas in Western Africa, which threatens the Cercopithecus living conditions in general because many of them are sympatric.
On the other hand, the Road-effect zones (REZs) were rarely calculated for the areas where the primates are usually present in Western Africa. Moreover, studies have shown that the distribution of roads can significantly affect primate living areas and population size; for example, the newly built road may facilitate poaching activities in terms of transportation and access to more undisturbed areas.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) evaluates the potential impacts from the proposed projects, within which the impact assessors will read and evaluate the quality of the project proposals and send the assessment report to the decision-makers; however, the science was poorly used in EIA. Road construction is one type of projects that needs to go through the EIA procedures. Unfortunately the rocketed infrastructure implementation in Western Africa come with a large scale of deregulations, which indicate low EIA credibility in the related road constructions, which means the REZs may not be considered at all in most areas. The lack of concern of the road effects to primates have not only push the endangered primates into a more challenging situation, but also make the less concerned primate like the Cercopithecus cephus more vulnerable as well. The Cercopithecus cephus population resilience to habitat fragmentation due to road construction remains unstudied, and the poaching of the Cercopithecus cephus has not shown a turning point yet. As a result, large population decrease may appear among the geunon's groups. On the other hand, the bushmeat market is highly risky in spreading the discussed zoonoses; and may be even riskier due to the rapid road construction in West Africa.
