Cercopithecus nictitans (Linnaeus, 1766)

Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Cercopithecidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 550-755 : 693

77.

Putty-nosed Monkey

Cercopithecus nictitans

French: Cercopitheque hocheur / German: Grofse WeilRnasenmeerkatze / Spanish: Cercopiteco de nariz blanca

Other common names: Greater Spot-nosed Guenon, Greater White-nosed Monkey, Putty-nosed Guenon, Whitenosed Guenon; Bioko Putty-nosed Monkey (martini), Eastern Putty-nosed Monkey (nictitans), Nigerian Putty-nosed Monkey (insolitus), Red-rumped Putty-nosed Monkey (/udio), Stampfli's Putty-nosed Monkey (stampflii)

Taxonomy. Simia nictitans Linnaeus, 1766 ,

Guinea. Restricted by C. P. Groves in 2005 to Equatorial Guinea, Benito River.

In his 1997 Field Guide to African Mammals, J. Kingdon aligned C. nictitans with C. mitis , comprising the “gentle monkey,” C. nictitans superspecies group. C. matis in this arrangement included four clusters: Mitis monkeys, white-throated monkeys (including albogularis ), silver monkeys (including doggetti and kandti ), and a cluster that includes the forms stuhlmanna, elgonis, and boutourlinii. Each cluster circumscribed a potential species. This arrangement was followed in The Mammals ofAfrica (Volume 2), edited by T. Butynski and colleagues (published in 2013). The third contemporary arrangement for this group was published by P. Grubb and colleagues in 2003. It is similar to that of Kingdon with just two species in the nictitans species group: C. nictitans and C. mitis (including subspecies albogularis , doggetti , and kandti ). C. P. Groves in his 2001 Primate Taxonomy placed C. nictitans as one of five species that made up his C. mitis species group; the others were C. matis, C. doggetti , C. kandti , and C. albogularis . Groves recognized just two subspecies of C. nictitans : C. n. nictitans and C. n. martini. Along with those two subspecies, three additional subspecies are recognized here, following the taxonomy in J. Oates’s Primates of West Africa, published in 2011: insolitus, ludio, and stampflii (considered by Groves to be synonyms of C. n. martini). Five subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

C.n.nictitansLinnaeus,1766—Cameroon(extendingNoftheSanagaRiverintopartsoftheCameroonHighlands),CentralAfricanRepublic,EquatorialGuinea,NWDRCongo,Gabon,andRepublicoftheCongo;possiblyinNWAngola.

C.n.insolitusElliot,1909—C&WNigeria.

C.n.ludioGray,1849—SENigeriaandNWCameroon(includingMountCameroon).

C.n.martiniWaterhouse,1838—BiokoI(EquatorialGuinea).

C. n. stampfliiJentink, 1888 — N Liberia and W Ivory Coast.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 55-70 cm (males) and 43-53 cm (females), tail 68 100 cm (males) and 56-76 cm (females); weight 5.5-8 kg (males) and 2.7-5 kg (females). The Putty-nosed Monkey is a large, long-tailed guenon. Its most characteristic feature, as its name suggests, is a bulbous white nose covered by an oval-shaped mat of very short, whitish hairs. This feature stands out in stark contrast to the otherwise black face and overall dark color of the body. Crown, shoulders, back, and outer legs are deep gray, speckled with olive-yellow. Outer arms, distal part of tail, hands, and feet are black. Eyes are a striking reddish-brown. The “Bioko Putty-nosed Monkey” (C. m. martind) is typically smaller than the other subspecies, with longer hair and a generally darker appearance. Its upper back has fewer lighter speckles than other subspecies, and its upper chest is dirty white or grayish-white. The “Eastern Putty-nosed Monkey” (C. n. nictitans ) has a more olive-gray appearance. Fur on its head and back is black, tinged with yellow, and its underside is a dark gray. In some individuals, there are a few red hairs in the perineal region. Its lower legs are gray. “Stampfli’s Puttynosed Monkey” (C. n. stampflii) has creamy white hair on its chest and abdomen, and its back and tail are lighter than in the other subspecies. Its tail is speckled gray, with a black tip. The “Nigerian Putty-nosed Monkey” (C. n. insolitus) has a creamy-white chest and throat extending along inner sides of upper arms to its elbows. Its lower legs are dark gray to black, and its abdomen is gray. The “Red-rumped Putty-nosed Monkey” (C. n. ludio) has a pure white chest, with white hair extending along its inner arms to its elbows (as in the Nigerian Putty-nosed Monkey). It has reddish brown hairs on its inner thighs and below base oftail (perineum). Its lower legs are gray.

Habitat. Primary and older secondary lowland and montane forest, rainforest, seasonally flooded forest, and riparian forest. The Putty-nosed Monkey is less common in swamp forest. In Liberia and Ivory Coast, Stampfli’s Putty-nosed Monkey inhabits dry semi-deciduous forest to the north of the coastal moist forest zone, although this is largely thought to be the result of competitive exclusion by the Diana Monkey (C. diana ) in moister habitats. In Nigeria and Cameroon, where the Putty-nosed Monkey has a widespread distribution, it shows preferences for moist and semi-deciduous forests. Here, individuals inhabit gallery forests in the forest-savanna mosaic zone north of the forest zone, and submontane forests.

Food and Feeding. The Putty-nosed Monkey eats fruits and seeds, supplemented with leaves, gums, flowers, and arthropods (mainly ants and caterpillars). In Tai Forest, fruits made up 59% of the diet and invertebrates 31%. Fruits of Dialium aubrevillei ( Fabaceae ) and Sacoglottis gabonensis ( Humiriaceae ) were the most popular. Stomach contents of Eastern Putty-nosed Monkeys (killed by hunters in north-eastern Gabon) contained an average of 81% fruits and seeds (by dry weight), 28% leaves, and 8% animal matter (especially caterpillars). The Putty-nosed Monkey is able to adapt well to the dry period in Gabon (May-August) by relying on leaves. This may explain how it is able to exploit relatively dry forest despite preferring moist forest where fruits and insects are more abundant. The Putty-nosed Monkey occasionally raids crops, and individuals have been reported to steal chickens.

Breeding. Birth season of the Putty-nosed Monkey is December—April. A single young is born after a 5-6month gestation. The annual birth rate is 0-41 young/year. Males reach sexual maturity at 5-7 years, females at c.4 years.

Activity patterns. The Putty-nosed Monkey mostly occupies the middle and upper forest canopies. In western Cameroon, it uses higher levels of the forest than all other sympatric guenons. In north-eastern Gabon, most observations of Eastern Putty-nosed Monkeys were at heights of more than 20 m. In south-eastern Bioko, the Bioko Puttynosed Monkey forages and travels at heights of 10-30 m and is the monkey species seen most frequently at heights of 20 m or more. In the Tai Forest, Stampfli’s Puttynosed Monkey spends 75% of its time in the main canopy and in emergents (i.e. above 15 m). It probably uses upper canopy levels more often than other guenons because of direct competitive exclusion from the Diana Monkey , also a canopy-dweller. The Putty-nosed Monkey's locomotory repertoire includes walking quadrupedally, climbing, leaping, and running. Because of their use of the uppermost levels of the canopy, individuals move around using large branches much more often than other guenons.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Putty-nosed Monkeys generally live in groups of 12-30 individuals, with a single adult male, adult females, and young. A high level of affiliative interaction between group members is common, mostly involving grooming among females. Within-group agonistic interactions are infrequent. In Tai Forest, a group of Stampfli’s Putty-nosed Monkey used a home range of 93 ha over a 7month period. In north-eastern Gabon, groups of Eastern Putty-nosed Monkeys have home ranges of 55-80 ha and daily movements of ¢.1500 m.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List, including the nominate subspecies nictitans , but the subspecies martini is classified as Vulnerable. Subspecies insolitus, ludio, and stampflii have not been assessed. The Putty-nosed Monkey is listed as Class B in the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The Bioko Putty-nosed Monkey underwent a 50% decline in its population between 1986 and 2006 because of habitat loss and hunting pressure. The Putty-nosed Monkey is threatened, especially in the western part of its distribution (Stampfli’s Putty-nosed Monkey), by habitat loss through deforestation for timber and agricultural land. There, it is also heavily hunted for meat, and it is occasionally shot as an agricultural pest. In Liberia and western Ivory Coast, competition with the Diana Monkey further combines with habitat conversion and hunting to make Stampfli’s Putty-nosed Monkeys scarce. In Ivory Coast, it occurs in Tai Forest National Park. The Putty-nosed Monkey remains reasonably common, however, in the central and eastern parts of its distribution. At Korup National Park in Cameroon, for example, its population seems to hold up in the face of heavy hunting pressure better than those of other forest monkeys. Nevertheless, the Putty-nosed Monkey is less resistant to forest disturbance and consequently is now rare in many Nigerian forest reserves that have been subjected to heavy logging, farming, and hunting. It occurs in a number of protected areas including Monte Alen National Park in Equatorial Guinea and Mbam-Djerem National Park in Cameroon.

Bibliography. Arnold & Zuberbthler (2006), Bitty & McGraw (2007), Butynski (1988), Butynski, de Jong & Hearn (2009), Butynski, Kingdon & Kalina (2013), Buzzard & Eckardt (2007), Delson et al. (2000), Dupuy (1971), Eckardt & Zuberbuhler (2004), Gartlan & Struhsaker (1972), Gautier-Hion (1980), Gautier-Hion et al. (1999), Gautier & Gautier-Hion (1978), Gonedelé Bi et al. (2012), Gonzalez-Kirchner (1996), Groves (2001, 2005b), Hearn et al. (2006), Linder (2008), Maté & Colell (1995), Napier (1981), Oates (1988b, 2011), Oates & Groves (2008d), Struhsaker (1969).

Figures

77. Putty-nosed Monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans), 78. Blue Monkey (Cercopithecus matis), 79. Silver Monkey (Cercopithecus doggetti), 80. Virungas Golden Monkey (Cercopithecus kandi)

Subspecies and Distribution. C.n.nictitansLinnaeus,1766—Cameroon(extendingNoftheSanagaRiverintopartsoftheCameroonHighlands),CentralAfricanRepublic,EquatorialGuinea,NWDRCongo,Gabon,andRepublicoftheCongo;possiblyinNWAngola. C.n.insolitusElliot,1909—C&WNigeria. C.n.ludioGray,1849—SENigeriaandNWCameroon(includingMountCameroon). C.n.martiniWaterhouse,1838—BiokoI(EquatorialGuinea). C. n. stampfliiJentink, 1888 — N Liberia and W Ivory Coast.