Mammals · Primates · Cercopithecidae

Campbell’s Monkey

Cercopithecus campbelli

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

Campbell's monkey or Campbell's mona monkey is a medium-sized primate of the West African forests, with an olive-grey back, pale underparts and a white band across the forehead. It is highly adaptable and survives in secondary forest and plantations. Its vocal communication is among the best studied in the animal kingdom: the males combine a small repertoire of calls with suffixes and sequences that alter their meaning.

Weight

2.5 kg – 6 kg

Size

40 cm – 56 cm

Lifespan

25 years

Diet

Herbivore

Feeds mainly on plants.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

RainforestHerbivore Omnivore Diurnal Rainforest Mammal

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Fun facts

The males add a suffix to their alarm calls that changes the meaning of the message, and combine the calls into sequences with rules of their own: it is the animal communication system most often compared to the rudiments of human syntax.
Females and young react differently depending on the order of the calls, which shows that the information lies in the sequence and not only in each sound taken separately.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Rainforest, secondary forest, gallery forest and plantations of West Africa
Sexual maturity: 3 years
Gestation / incubation: 5.9 months
Litter / clutch size: 1

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercopithecus_campbelli