Udzungwa red colobus  (Piliocolobus gordonorum)

Description

The most distinctive feature of the Udzungwa red colobus is its conspicuous crown of spiky red hair, which stands out dramatically from the black-and-white coat of the rest of the body (2). The coat is black on the monkey’s upperparts, and white on its underside and inner surfaces of the limbs (2). The arms and thighs are black, but the shanks are a paler, more silvery-black (2). The short, slightly bushy tail is white below and either black or a dull yellowish-black above (2). The cheeks are white and a thick black line runs along the temple, separating the face from the bright red crown (2). Colobus means ‘docked' in Greek, referring to the small remnant bump that all colobus species have in place of a thumb. However, the other fingers are elongate and aligned to form a powerful hook, well adapted to gripping branches (4). Taxonomic relationships within this species, and with other taxa of red colobus, are widely debated by experts and require clarification.

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