Vervet Monkey, or Chlorocebus, Is Part of Essay

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Vervet Monkey, or Chlorocebus, is part of the Old-World monkey classification of medium sized primates. There are typically six species that science recognizes, but there is disagreement as to whether this is one species of a species and subspecies. For the entire species of Chloroceus, the terms "vervet" and "green" monkey are used interchangeably even though there refer to some other species as common names (Groves).

Taxonomy

Suborder: Haplorrhini

Infraorder: Simiiformes

Superfamily: Cercopithecoidea

Family: Cercopithecidae

Subfamily: Cercopithecinae

Genus: Chlorocebus

Species: Ch. aethiops, Ch. cynosuros, Ch. djamdjamensis, Ch. pygerythrus, Ch. sabaeus, Ch. tantalus

Subspecies: Ch. p. excubitor, Ch. p. hilgerti, Ch. p. nesiotes, Ch. p. pygerythrus, Ch. p. rufoviridis, Ch. t. budgetti, Ch. t. marrensis, Ch. t. tantalus

Other names: Ch. aethiops: Cercopithecus aethiops, Cercopithecus aethiops, or Chlorocebus aethiops; grivet or savanna monkey; singe vert (French); grunmeerkatze (German); mono verde (Spanish); gron markatta or vervett (Swedish); Ch. cynosuros: malbrouck; Ch. djamdjamensis: Bale Mountains vervet or djam-djam; Ch. pygerythrus: Cercopithecus aethiops pygerythrus or Chlorocebus aethiops pygerythrus; vervet monkey; Ch. sabaeus: Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus or Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus; green monkey; Ch. tantalus: Cercopithecus aethiops tantalus or Chlorocebus aethiops tantalus; tantalus monkey (Vervet Chlorocebus)

Morphology

Typically, the vervet monkey has a yellow to green-brown coat with white undersides and white fur on brows and cheeks. They have bluish skin on thei abdomens; but their faces, hands and feet are all black-skinned. Males of all species have bright blue scrotum areas and bright red penises. There is often some variation in fur length and coloration. The males and females are sexually dimorphic; adult males weigh between 4-8 kg and measure between 400-600 mm; adult females between 3-5.5 kg weight and 300-500 mm. They move as quadrupeds but are very comfortable on the ground being semi-terrestrial and semi-arboreal. Lifespan is difficult to prove because of high rates of predation, but after 11 years serious health problems are seen in captives, leading scholars to believe the maximum lifespan is about 12 years, likely 7 in the wild (Wolfe-Coote).

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Geographic Distribution

The Vervet is found in East Africa and can live in mountain areas up to about 13,000 feet. They do not live in deserts or true rainforests, but prefer woodlands along streams, rivers and lakes. They are diurnal, sleeping and eating in trees. They are, in fact, the most widespread of the African monkeys, and inhabit large parts of sub-Saharan regions of the continent. Typically, they are found from Senegal to Ethiopia, north into Egypt, and south into South Africa. As noted, they are absent from the forests of the Congo basin. Artificially, some of the recent conflicts in Africa have made study of the range of the vervet difficult, but we know they have been seen in 39 African nations and also in the Cape Verde Islands. Sea travel introduced the vervet to the Caribbean where, at times they are considered a pest species (National Research Council).

Because they are so widespread, seasonal availability of food and water means that the Vervet must forage for food and be able to consume a wide variety of material. This they share with Chimpanzees and Baboons as being the most omnivorous of the primates. In fact, they eat leaves, seeds, nuts, grasses, fruit, berries, flowers, invertebrates, eggs, birds, lizards, and rodents; but have a clear preference for flowers and fruit. One of the ecological problems, in fact, has been that the vervet often ravages farms for sweet potatoes and corn.

Behavioral Issues

The vervet sleeps in trees to avoid predation from lions, leopards and cheetahs, along with other bush predators; including humans,….....

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