Colobus polykomos
Creators: name: Russell A. Mittermeier
name: Anthony B. Rylands
name: Don E. Wilson
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Cercopithecidae
Colobus
Colobus polykomos

description: 84.
King Colobus
Colobus polykomos
French: Colobe noir et blanc / German: Barenstummelaffe / Spanish: Colobo rey
Other common names: Ursine Black-and-white Colobus, Western Black-and-white Colobus, Western Pied Colobus
Taxonomy. Cebus polykomos E. A. W. Zimmermann, 1780,
Sierra Leone (probably Sherbro Island).
Black-and-white colobus monkeys with uncertain taxonomic status—a hybrid swarm (previously referred to as “Doll man’s Colobus ” dollmani) of C. polykomos x C. vellerosus exists between the Sassandra River and the Bandama River (and its eastern tributary, the Nzi) in Ivory Coast. Monotypic.
Distribution. Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and SW Ivory Coast (E to the Sassandra River); possibly in S Senegal and Gambia.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 58-68 cm (males) and 55-65 cm (females), tail 72— 100 cm (males) and 81-96 cm (females); weight 6:6—10 kg (males) and 6.7-8.3 kg (females). The King Colobusis a robust, long-tailed colobine, with its tail being more than 160% of head-body length. Body, crown, and limbs are mostly black. Crown has no whorl, with its front and sides of head and neck having long gray-white hairs that gradually become intermingled with black on sides of the neck and shoulders (where hairs form long epaulettes). White hairs gradually disappear on flanks and innersides of humeri. Tail is white and untufted. Facial skin is black, with a prominent nose that often protrudes beyond the mouth. Ischial callosities are margined with white fur ventrally in both sexes, with the white extending up between callosities and down toward genitalia. Cranium has low, rounded orbits and a weakly developed rounded supraorbital torus with no concavity at the glabella. Pyriform aperture is low and narrow.
Habitat. A variety of primary and secondary forest habitats, including dry semi-deciduous, moist evergreen, and riparian forests. The King Colobus is rarely found in degraded habitat, but it does sometimes occur in secondary forests. It is often seen in tall emergenttrees.
Food and Feeding. The King Colobus eats mainly young leaves, mature leaves, and unripe seeds, supplemented with shoots, fruits (mainly unripe), flowers, and termite clay. It relies heavily on lianas and leguminous plants. Water is obtained mainly from their food, and when necessary, individuals can live for up to several months on little but mature leaves.
Breeding. Female King Colobus do not display a sexual swelling when receptive, and there is no perineal organ in the male. Females initiate copulations. One offspring is born in December—February after a gestation of 170 days. The skin of the infants is pink for the first few months oflife and covered with a short, all-white natal coat. Every mature female in the group takes part in the rearing of the young. One individual lived for 27 years in the Erfurt Zoo, Germany.
Activity patterns. King Colobus are diurnal and arboreal. At Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary, G. Dasilva found them to spend 61% of their time resting, 28% feeding, 9% moving, 1% engaging in social behavior, and 1% miscellaneous other activities. Low levels of activity might be a behavioral strategy to conserve energy, particularly when food is scarce. The King Colobus adopts a hunched posture during rainstorms and periods of low temperature, which is likely related to thermoregulation.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Daily movements of King Colobus average 637-830 m, with home ranges of 24-83 ha. Group size is typically 9-19 individuals, with 1-3 adult males and 4-6 adult females, although smaller groups of 3-6 individuals have been reported. Males disperse from their natal group, but there is also evidence of female movement. Females typically form bonds in a group, while adult males form dominance hierarchies and rarely interact.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. The King Colobusis listed as Class A in the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Although its total distribution is still extensive, habitat loss and hunting for its meat and pelt are becoming increasing threats and are fragmenting remaining populations. It does not survive well in degraded areas and requires some primary forest to thrive. The King Colobus occurs in nine protected areas, but protection from hunting is still problematic in some of them: Tai Forest National Park in Ivory Coast; Sapo National Park in Liberia; Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary, Gola Forest Reserve, and Outamba-Kilimi National Park in Sierra Leone; and Haut Niger National Park, Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, and Massif du Ziama and Diecke biosphere reserves in Guinea.
Bibliography. Dasilva (1989, 1992, 1993, 1994), Fashing (2011), Gonedelé Bi et al. (2006), Groves (2001, 2005, 2007), Groves et al. (1993), Kingdon (1997), Korstjens et al. (2005b, 2007b), Mallinson (1969), Mallinson & Barker (1998), Mearns & Pidgeon (1978), Oates (2011), Oates & McGraw (2009).
description: Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Cercopithecidae, pp. 550-755 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 701, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6867065