Cercopithecus denti, Thomas, 1907

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 : 684

68.

Dent's Monkey

Cercopithecus denti

French: Cercopitheque de Dent / German: Dent-Meerkatze / Spanish: Cercopiteco de Dent

Other common names: Dent's Mona Monkey

Taxonomy. Cercopithecus denti Thomas, 1907 ,

DR Congo, between Mawambi and Avakubi, Ituri Forest.

In his Field Guide to African Mammals published in 1997, J. Kingdon included the following species in his C. mona superspecies group: C. mona , C. campbelli , C. lower, C. denti , C. wolfi , and C. pogonias . C. dent is regarded as a subspecies of C. pogonias by some authorities, including P. Grubb and colleagues in their 2003 review. The [UCN also lists this taxon as one of six subspecies of C. pogonias , along with the nominate pogonias , nigripes , grayi, wolfi , and elegans. J.-M. Lernould in 1988 and A. Gautier-Hion and colleagues in 1999 classified dent : as a subspecies of C. wolfi . C. P. Groves in his 2001 Primate Taxonomy considered it to be a distinct species, the classification followed here. Monotypic.

Distribution. E DR Congo (E and N of the Congo-Lualaba river system, extending N to the Itimbiri River and S to the Kasongo savanna), W Uganda, and NW Rwanda.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 40-50 cm,tail 68-90 cm; weight 4.3-5.7 kg (males) and 2.8-3.4 kg (females). Male Dent’s Monkeys are larger than females. Back is a rich grizzled mahogany brown. Hairs are gray at the base, with three or four alternating light/ dark bands. Head is yellowish. Forelimbs are blackish, and legs are a dark grizzled gray. Underside and inner side of limbs are a sharply contrasting white. Skin offace is bluegray except around the muzzle, which is pale. Dent’s Monkey has a pale brow band and black lateral crown stripes. Tail is gray with a black tip.

Habitat. In a study carried out in the Ituri Forest in 1991, Dent's Monkey was occasionally present in Mbau and riparian forests but more frequently in mixed forest. It showed a preference for secondary forest because of the year-round abundance of fruit. Primary forest is used during short seasonal fruiting peaks. They use the middle forest canopy most frequently. They are also reported in swamp forest in the Ituri at elevations of 700-1000 m.

Food and Feeding. Dent’s Monkeys are primarily frugivore-insectivores. They also eat leaves. In Bwamba, Uganda, they feed on shoots.

Breeding. There is no specific information available for this species. One captive individual lived 14 years.

Activity patterns. Dent's Monkeys are diurnal and highly arboreal. They are canopy dwellers, spending c.30% of their time at heights of 20-40 m or higher and ¢.20% at 5-20 m. Locomotion is quadrupedal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Group sizes of Dent’s Monkeys are 7-21 individuals. Their social organization has not been studied in detail, but they are presumably similar to the closely related Crowned Monkey ( C. pogonias ), having a unimale-multifemale hierarchical social system.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List (as C. pogonias denti ). Dent's Monkey has a large range, and although its population is declining,it is unlikely to be doing so fast enough to warrant listing as threatened. Nevertheless, because Dent’s Monkey is currently subsumed under the Crowned Monkey by IUCN,it has not been evaluated as a full species, and therefore its threat status is not definitive.

Bibliography. Allen (1925), Goodwin (2011d), Groves (2001, 2005b), Grubb et al. (2003), Hall et al. (2002/2003), Hill (1966), Kingdon (1997), Lernould (1988), Oates, Hart & Groves (2008b), Thomas (1991), Weigl (2005), Wilkie (1987).

Figures

59. Dryas Monkey (Cercopithecus dryas), 60. Diana Monkey (Cercopithecus diana), 61. Roloway Monkey (Cercopithecus roloway), 62. De Brazza’s Monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus), 63. Mona Monkey (Cercopithecus mona), 64. Campbell's Monkey (Cercopithecus campbelli), 65. Lowe's Monkey (Cercopithecus lowei), 66. Crowned Monkey (Cercopithecus pogonias), 67. Wolf's Monkey (Cercopithecus wolf), 68. Dent's Monkey (Cercopithecus dent)

Distribution. E DR Congo (E and N of the Congo-Lualaba river system, extending N to the Itimbiri River and S to the Kasongo savanna), W Uganda, and NW Rwanda.