Vervet Monkey

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Vervet Monkey[1]

Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Chlorocebus
Species: C. pygerythrus
Binomial name
Chlorocebus pygerythrus
Linnaeus, 1758

The Vervet Monkey, sometimes simply known as the Vervet, is the common name of the species Chlorocebus pygerythrus, an African Old World monkey in the family Cercopithecidae. (The common term "vervet" is also sometimes used to refer to all the members of the genus Chlorocebus.)

The Vervet Monkey is presently found around South Africa,[1] where they are classified as vermin.[2] Sources indicate that this monkey must go through life in constant danger of being killed by people. In South Africa, this creature can be killed in any method without previously obtaining a permit. It is also found in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Zambia.[1]

The Vervet Monkey inhabits savanna lands and mountains up to 4000 m. Males vary in size from 45 to 85 cm, and weigh between 3.5 to 7.5 kg, while females, range from 40 to 60 cm in size and between 2.5 to 5.5 kg in weight. Both have tail lengths that can vary from 50 to 115 cm.

The Vervet Monkey is mainly frugivorous, but it also supplements its diet with a variety of other foods, including leaves, seeds, insects and small rodents. It commonly lives in groups or "troops" of 20 or more, however the size of the group is often smaller than 20. Its gestation period is 7 months with a single offspring produced and is known to have a life span of up to 20 years.

One interesting phenomenon about the Vervet Monkey is that it seems to possess what has been called the "rudiments of language". Vervet Monkey alarm calls vary greatly depending on the different types of threats to the community. There are distinct calls to warn of invading leopards, snakes, and eagles.

The pigmentation of the male Vervet Monkey's scrotum is a vivid blue that pales when the animal falls in social rank. The hydration of the scrotal skin controls its color.[3]

Contents

[edit] Classification

There are five distinct subspecies of Vervet Monkeys:

  • Chlorocebus pygerythrus hilgerti
  • Chlorocebus pygerythrus excubitor
  • Chlorocebus pygerythrus nesiotes
  • Chlorocebus pygerythrus rufoviridis
  • Chlorocebus pygerythrus pygerythrus

[edit] In ancient history

This species was known in ancient Egypt including the Red Sea Mountains and the Nile Valley.[4] From fresco artworks found in Akrotiri on the Mediterranean island of Santorini there is evidence that the Vervet Monkey was known to the inhabitants of this settlement around 2000 BC; this fact is most noted for evidence of early contact between Egypt and Akrotiri.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 159. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. 
  2. ^ BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Monkey misery for Kenyan women villagers
  3. ^ Price JS, Burton JL, Shuster S, Wolff K (1976). "Control of scrotal colour in the vervet monkey". J Med Primatol. 5 (5): 296-304. 
  4. ^ Jan Moeyersons, Pierre M. Vermeersch, Hans Beeckman and Philip Van Peer, Holocene environmental changes in the Gebel Umm Hammad, Eastern Desert, Egypt: "Dry cave deposits and their palaeoenvironmental significance during the last 115 ka, Sodmein Cave, Red Sea Mountains, Egypt", Geomorphology, Volume 26, Issue 4, January 1999, Pages 297-312
  5. ^ C.Michael Hogan (2007) "Akrotiri", Modern Antiquarian

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