Tuesday 18 June
Red-bellied guenon (Cercopithecus erythrogaster)

Red-bellied guenon fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Red-bellied guenon description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Primates |
| Family | Cercopithecidae |
| Genus | Cercopithecus (1) |
The red-bellied guenon (Cercopithecus erythrogaster) is a little-known primate with a mousy brown coat and a reddish-grey underbelly (2) (4), a feature which both its common and scientific name refer to; the scientific name of this species, erythrogaster, originates from the Greek words ‘erythros’ meaning ‘red’ and ‘gaster’ meaning ‘belly’ (5). The red-bellied guenon has a black face with a contrasting white beard and throat (2) (4) and, like all guenons, this monkey has a roundish head, a slight build, long hind limbs, a long tail, and cheek pouches for storing food (6). The name ‘guenon’ comes from the French word for ‘fright’ and refers to the baring of teeth when these monkeys are excited or distressed (6).
- Also known as
- red-bellied monkey, white-throated guenon, White-throated monkey.
- French
- Cercopithèque À Ventre Roux. Top
-
Nigerian Conservation Foundation:
http://www.ncfnigeria.org/ -
Centre for Education, Research and Conservation of Primates and Nature:
http://www.cercopan.org/ - Arboreal
- An animal which lives or spends a large amount of time in trees.
- Diurnal
- Active during the day.
- Gestation
- The state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth.
- Primary
- Primary forest is forest that has remained undisturbed for a long time and has reached a mature condition.
- Secondary forest
- Forest that has re-grown after a major disturbance, such as fire or timber harvest, but has not yet reached the mature state of primary forest.
-
IUCN Red List (October, 2010)
http://www.iucnredlist.org/ - Macdonald, D.W. (2006) The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
-
CITES (October, 2010)
http://www.cites.org/ - Hildyard, A. (Ed.) (2001) Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World. Marshall Cavendish Corporation, Tarrytown, New York.
- Dwight, J. (1919) The name “erythrogaster” and others. The Auk, 36(1): 116-118.
- Nowak, R.M. (1999) Walker's Mammals of the World. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland.
- National Research Council (2003) Nutrient Requirements of Nonhuman Primates. The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
- Beacham, W. and Beetz, K.H. (1998) Beacham’s Guide to International Endangered Species: Volume 1. Beacham Publishing Corporation, Florida.
- Choker, B.A. (1992) Environmental pressure groups and habitat protection in the developing world: The case of Nigeria. The Environmentalist, 12(3): 169-180.
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
Red-bellied guenon biology
The red-bellied guenon is a social animal which lives in troops containing between 5 and 30 individuals (1) (6). Guenon troops generally comprise a single dominant adult male, a number of adult females and their young (6).
Although the breeding biology of this species is not fully understood, it is likely to be similar to that of other guenon species, which typically mate during July to September and give birth to a single young after a gestation period of around six months (6). The young guenon clings to the underside of its mother as they travel through the forest, with their tails entwined (6).
Guenons are diurnal primates, mainly active in the early morning or late afternoon (6). The red-bellied guenon feeds predominantly on fruits and seeds, but it also eats leaves, the quantity of which increases when fruit is in short supply, and supplements its diet with small birds, reptiles and insects (6) (7).
TopRed-bellied guenon range
The red-bellied guenon occurs in scattered populations in south-western Nigeria, southern Benin and Togo (1).
TopRed-bellied guenon habitat
The arboreal red-bellied guenon inhabits moist primary and secondary forest often near a river or stream, where it spends much of its time in the canopy (1) (2) (6).
TopRed-bellied guenon status
The red-bellied guenon is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (1) and listed on Appendix II of CITES (3). Subspecies: the red-bellied monkey (C. e. erythrogaster) is classified as Endangered (EN) and the Nigerian white-throated guenon (C. e. pococki) is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (1).
TopRed-bellied guenon threats
Habitat destruction is regarded as the greatest threat to the red-bellied guenon (1) (8). Forest within this species’ range has already been heavily degraded and the remaining patches of forest remain threatened by timber extraction and conversion to agricultural land (1). In addition, the red-bellied guenon is hunted by local people for meat, and without hunting restrictions this will continue to have a negative impact on this rare primate (1) (4).
TopRed-bellied guenon conservation
The red-bellied guenon occurs in a number of forest reserves (1), including the Okumu Forest Wildlife Sanctuary, which is an area of around 1,082 square kilometres designed specifically to protect the red-bellied guenon by preventing poaching and deforestation in the area (9). However, greater protection is required for its remaining forest habitat, along with hunting restrictions (1), if the future of this attractive primate is to be secured.
TopFind out more
To find out about wildlife conservation in Nigeria see:
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
Glossary
References
More »Related species
Close
Image credit
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.














