Cercopithecus albogularis (Sykes, 1831)

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 : 695-696

81 .

Sykes’s Monkey

Cercopithecus albogularis

French: Cercopithéque a gorge blanche / German: Weiltkehlmeerkatze / Spanish: Cercopiteco de Sykes

Other common names: Sykes's Guenon, White-throated Guenon; Kolb's White-collared Monkey (kolbi), Moloney’s White-collared Monkey (moloneyi), Mount Kilimanjaro Sykes’'s Monkey (kibonotensis), Patta Island Monkey (phylax), Pousargues’s White-collared Monkey / Tana River Monkey (albotorquatus), Red-eared Sykes’'s Monkey (francescae), Samango Monkey (/ abiatus), Schwarz's White-collared Monkey (schwarz), Somalia White-collared Monkey (zammaranoi), Stairs's White-collared Monkey (erythrarchus), Tanzania Sykes's Monkey (monoides), Zanzibar Sykes's Monkey (albogularis)

Taxonomy. Semnopithecus albogularis Sykes, 1831 ,

Tanzania, Zanzibar.

In his 1997 Field Guide to African Mammals, |]. Kingdon aligned C. nictitans with C. mitis as comprising a “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 blue monkeys—22 taxa in all, but not pinned down as species or subspecies. This arrangement was followed in The Mammals ofAfrica (Volume 2) edited by T. Butynski and colleagues and published in 2013. The 2003 review of P. Grubb and colleagues likewise adhered to Kingdon’s arrangement. They had two species in the C. nictitans group: C. nictitans (with two subspecies) and C. matus (with all the forms that they considered valid attributed to 16 subspecies, including albogularis , doggetti , and kandti ). C. P. Groves in his book 2001 Primate Taxonomy included five species in his mitis species group: C. nictitans with two subspecies (but five are acknowledged here), C. mitis (with seven subspecies), C. doggetti , C. kandi, and C. albogularis (with twelve subspecies: the nominate albogularis , albotorquatus, zammarano, kolbi, kibonotensis, phylax, monoides, moloneyi, francescae, erythrarchus, schwarz, and labiatus); this arrangementis followed here. Grubb and colleagues considered kibonotensis to be a junior synonym of albogularis ; phylax and zammaranoi to be junior synonyms of albotorquatus, and schwarzi ajunior synonym of erythrarchus. C. m. stuhlmannii x C. albogularis hybridization is reported in Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara in northern Tanzania. Twelve subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

C. a. albogularis Sykes, 1831 — Zanzibar I, Tanzania.

C. a. albotorquatus de Pousargues, 1896 — N Kenyan coast ( Tana River forests).

C. a. erythrarchus Peters, 1852 — S Malawi (Mlanje Plateau), E Zimbabwe and most of Mozambique (including the Bazaruto Archipelago).

C. a. francescae Thomas, 1902 — N Malawi (Mt Waller and Vipya Plateau, 10° 40°-11° HO’ 8).

C. a. kibonotensis Lonnberg, 1908 — SE Kenya (N to Kilifi Creek) and N Tanzania (inland to Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru).

C. a. kolbi Neumann, 1902 — Kenya highlands E of the Rift Valley (Aberdare Mts, Mt Kenya, and Ngong Hills).

C. a. labiatus 1. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1842 — South Africa (Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces); possibly in Lesotho.

C. a. moloneyi Sclater, 1894 — S highlands of Tanzania (Poroto Mts, 9°S8.33°40’' EK) o Udzungwa Mts, Zambia (E of the Luangwa River), and N Malawi (to 9° 30° S).

C. a. monoides 1. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1841 — E Tanzania, from the seaboard region of Morogoro (6° 49’ S, 37° 40’ E) to the Newala District close to the Mozambique border. C. a. phylax Schwarz, 1927 — Pate and Witu Is in the Lamu Archipelago, off the coast of Kenya.

C. a. schwarzi Roberts, 1931 — NE South Africa (Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces) and Swaziland.

C. a. zammaranoi de Beaux, 1924 — S Somalia (along theJubba and Webi-Shebelle rivers).

Descriptive notes. Head—body 25-68 cm (males) and 20-65 cm (females), tail 31-95 cm (males) and 26-85 cm (females); weight 2:7-11.1 kg (males) and 1.3-6 kg (females). Males are larger than females. Sykes’s Monkey is similar to the Blue Monkey (C. matis), but it is generally more uniformly colored, with no scapular band. Body and crown are a relatively light, speckled yellow-olive or ochery-toned with dark limbs. Chin, cheeks, and throat are white. It has long brow fringe projecting forward over eyes and long, pale, or reddish tufts on ears. The “Zanzibar Sykes’s Monkey” (C. a. albogularis ) is small. Its brow fringe, cheek whiskers, and shoulders are speckled yellowish gray, becoming reddish brown on its dorsum. Its crown is slightly darker than its body. About 60% of the terminal part oftail is black, with some red hairs on underside of tail base. Its throat patch extends around the neck to make an almost complete collar. Hairs are yellow-gray at their bases, with three pairs of yellow and black bands. “Pousargues’s White-collared Monkey” (C. a. albotorquatus) is darker than the nominate subspecies, and its collar is more clearly complete. Its rump is orangey. Underside of tail is red, with red tones on inner thighs. Hairs are yellow-gray at their bases, with pairs of yellow and black bands, as in the nominate subspecies. “Stairs’s White-collared Monkey” (C. a. erythrarchus) is somewhat more yellowish. Its posterior dorsum is yellowbrown. Its throat patch is whitish but does not form a collar. It has a caudal patch that sometimes extends completely around tail base. The “Red-eared Sykes’s Monkey” (C. a. francescae) is a darker gray, with a short gray collar and red ear tufts; it has reddish hairs on lateral underside of tail and white along the midline. The “Mount Kiliman-Jaro Sykes’s Monkey” (C. a. kibonotensis) is very close in description to the nominate subspecies. Ends ofits collar are farther apart at nape, and terminal halfoftail is black. Hairs are gray at their bases, with five pairs of alternating reddish yellow and black bands. “Kolb’s White-collared Monkey” (C. a. kolbi) is the largest of the subspecies; it is similar to the Zanzibar Sykes’s Monkey but slightly darker, with a redder dorsum and a nearly complete white collar. Its hairs are yellow-gray at the base, with four pairs of alternating reddish yellow and black bands. The “ Samango Monkey ” (C. a. labiatus) is dark gray, with a slightly yellower posterior dorsum;it has no red buta slightly creamy stripe underits tail base. It has a dark frontal fringe, a partial white collar, and sometimes a white moustache. Hairs are gray at their bases, with three pairs of white and black bands. “Moloney’s White-collared Monkey” (C. a. moloneyi) is speckled gray, with light speckled gray whiskers and brow ridge. It has a dark reddish saddle. Crown and nape are dark gray, and throat patch is creamy and extends around the neck as a collar. Distal two-thirds oftail is black, and underside oftail is often reddish. Hairs are gray at their bases, with four pairs of red and black bands. Crown, brow fringe, cheek whiskers, and shoulders of the “Tanzania Sykes’s Monkey” (C. a. monoides) are speckled yellowish gray, becoming reddish brown toward its dorsum. About 40% of the terminal part oftail is black, and there are some red hairs underneath. Its throat patch does not extend to a collar. The “Patta Island Monkey” (C. a. phylax) has a more reddish color overall, with a darker crown. Ends of its collar are farther apart at the nape. Tailis black over the terminal half. Hairs are gray at their bases, with five pairs of alternating bands of reddish yellow and black. “Schwarz’s White-collared Monkey” (C. a. schwarzi) is less dark and has a less extensive white midline stripe and some red under tail base. The “Somalia White-collared Monkey” (C. a. zammaranoi) is an overall dark olive, becoming yellower posteriorly. Its nape is darker than its body and crown. It has no collar and no red underits tail.

Habitat. Variable by subspecies, including deciduous, evergreen, riparian forest, and bush woodland (Pousargues’s White-collared Monkey); lowland forest (Pousargues’s White-collared Monkey and the Tanzania Sykes’s Monkey); subtropical, savanna, Acacia (Fabaceae) , and swamp forest (Stairs’s White-collared Monkey); coastal forest (Stairs’s White-collared Monkey and the Samango Monkey ); montane rainforest (the Tanzania Sykes’s Monkey); and gallery forest (the Somalia White-collared Monkey). Habitats of the Zanzibar Sykes’s Monkey, Moloney’s White-collared Monkey, the Red-eared Sykes’s Monkey, Kolb’s White-collared Monkey, the Mount Kilimanjaro Sykes’s Monkey, the Patta Island Monkey, and Schwarz’s White-collared Monkey have not been explicitly studied, although the Zanzibar Sykes’s Monkey has been reported in coral rag forest, mangrove forest, and edge forest adjacent to plantations. These subspecies are presumed to be similar to other closely related taxa and inhabit tropical forest habitats. The occurrence of Stairs’s White-collared Monkey in swamp and savanna habitats is the result of deforestation on Bazaruto Island, Mozambique, and the restriction of the island subpopulation to the remaining suboptimal habitat.

Food and Feeding. Few studies of diet and feeding of Sykes’s Monkey have been conducted, but there have been studies, in some detail, on the Zanzibar Sykes’s Monkey, Stairs’s White-collared Monkey, and the Samango Monkey. The Zanzibar Sykes’s Monkey eats fruit and flowers, but it is not clear what proportion ofits diet is composed of these items. It is also reported to raid papaya and banana plantations. Diet of Stairs’s White-collared Monkey was studied in the Cape Vidal region of South Africa, and it contained 43-59% fruit, 22— 34% young and mature leaves, 5-13% flowers, ¢.2:5% buds, and 1-6% insects; bark, fungi, and gum were also eaten. Diet and food consumption of the Samango Monkey were studied in Ngoye Forest, South Africa. They were primarily frugivorous with a diet of 84-91% ripe and unripe fruit, 1-6-3-0% leaves, and 0-6-2-1% flowers. They also ate bark, gum, fungi, and unspecified animal matter.

Breeding. Gestation of the Zanzibar Sykes’s Monkey, Stairs’s White-collared Monkey, and the Samango Monkey is ¢.5—6 months. Menstrual cycles of Stairs’s and Pousargues’s white-collared monkeys are 32 days.

Activity patterns. Sykes’s Monkeys are diurnal and arboreal. Although their locomotion and postures have not been studied, they are probably similar to other closely related taxa that are predominantly quadrupedal, climbers, and leapers.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Home ranges are 13-5-15 ha for Stairs’s White-collared Monkey and 14-5 ha for Kolb’s White-collared Monkey. Group sizes vary for different subspecies: 15-20 individuals for Pousargues’s White-collared Monkey, 30-35 for Stairs’s White-collared Monkey, 2-34 for the Samango Monkey , and 14-18 for Kolb’s White-collared Monkey. The social organization of Stairs’s Whitecollared Monkey is reported to be a hierarchical unimale-multifemale system.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List (as C. matis albogularis ), including the nominate subspecies albogularis , erythrarchus (as C. m. erythrarchus), kolbi (as C. m. kolbi), moloneyi (as C. m. moloneyi), and monoides (as C. mitis monoides). The subspecies zammaranoi (as C. m. zammaronoi) is classified as Critically Endangered, albotorquatus (as C. m. albotorquatus), labiatus (as C. m. labiatus) as Vulnerable, and francescae (as C. m. francescae) as Data Deficient. The subspecies kibonotensis, phylax, and schwarzi have not been assessed. Although widespread, the Zanzibar Sykes’s Monkey is declining where it occurs outside protected areas. Pousargues’s White-collared Monkey has an extent of occurrence less than 20,000 km?, and it is experiencing population declines because of habitat fragmentation and habitat loss and degradation from agriculture. Stairs’s White-collared Monkey has a wide distribution and is locally common, although it is experiencing population declines in some areas. The Red-eared Sykes’s Monkey has no current information on its threats and population status. Much of the distribution of Kolb’s White-collared Monkey is within protected areas, including Aberdare National Park, Mount Kenya National Park, and several forest reserves. It is locally common and relatively well protected. The Samango Monkey is endemic to South Africa in highly fragmented, discrete, and isolated forests. Its past decline exceeds 30% over 27 years (three generations). Habitat loss is widespread in its already fragmented habitat due to past logging practices and current forestry plantations. Moloney’s White-collared Monkey is widespread in suitable habitat and occurs in several protected areas. Although it experiences population declines, they are not severe enough to warrant a threatened status. The Tanzania Sykes’s Monkey is also widespread in suitable habitat, even though it is probably declining in all areas outside of protected areas because of habitat loss and degradation. The population of the Somalia White-collared Monkey has been estimated at only 200-500 individuals, and it is declining, with no more than 50 mature individuals in any of the subpopulations.

Bibliography. Butynski & Mwangi (1994), Butynski, Kingdon & Kalina (2013), Downs & Wirminghaus (1997), Else et al. (1985), Gautier-Hion & Brugiére (2005), Groves (2001, 2005b), Grubb et al. (2003), Henzi & Lawes (1987), Kingdon (1997), Kingdon, Gippoliti, Butynski, Lawes et al. (2008), Lawes (1990, 1991), Lawes & Piper (1992), Lawes et al. (1990), Payne et al. (2003), Rodgers & Homewood (1982), Wimberger et al. (2011), Worman & Chapman (2006).

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. a. albogularis Sykes, 1831 — Zanzibar I, Tanzania. C. a. albotorquatus de Pousargues, 1896 — N Kenyan coast ( Tana River forests). C. a. erythrarchus Peters, 1852 — S Malawi (Mlanje Plateau), E Zimbabwe and most of Mozambique (including the Bazaruto Archipelago). C. a. francescae Thomas, 1902 — N Malawi (Mt Waller and Vipya Plateau, 10° 40°-11° HO’ 8). C. a. kibonotensis Lonnberg, 1908 — SE Kenya (N to Kilifi Creek) and N Tanzania (inland to Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru). C. a. kolbi Neumann, 1902 — Kenya highlands E of the Rift Valley (Aberdare Mts, Mt Kenya, and Ngong Hills). C. a. labiatus 1. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1842 — South Africa (Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces); possibly in Lesotho. C. a. moloneyi Sclater, 1894 — S highlands of Tanzania (Poroto Mts, 9°S8.33°40’' EK) o Udzungwa Mts, Zambia (E of the Luangwa River), and N Malawi (to 9° 30° S). C. a. monoides 1. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1841 — E Tanzania, from the seaboard region of Morogoro (6° 49’ S, 37° 40’ E) to the Newala District close to the Mozambique border. C. a. phylax Schwarz, 1927 — Pate and Witu Is in the Lamu Archipelago, off the coast of Kenya. C. a. schwarzi Roberts, 1931 — NE South Africa (Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces) and Swaziland. C. a. zammaranoi de Beaux, 1924 — S Somalia (along theJubba and Webi-Shebelle rivers).