Cercopithecus wolfi, Meyer, 1891

Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Cercopithecidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 550-755 : 683-684

67.

Wolf's Monkey

Cercopithecus wolfi

French: Cercopithéque de Wolf / German: Wolf-Meerkatze / Spanish: Cercopiteco de Wolf

Other common names: Wolf's Guenon, Wolf's Mona; Congo Basin Wolf's Monkey (wolfi), Fire-bellied Wolf's Monkey (pyrogasten, Lomami River Wolf's Monkey (elegans)

Taxonomy. Cercopithecus wolfi Meyer, 1891 ,

Central West Africa.

In his Field Guide to African Mammals published in 1997, J. Kingdon included the following species in his C. mona superspecies group: C. mona , C. campbell, C. lowe, C. dents, C. wolf, and C. pogonias . C. wolfi is considered as a subspecies of C. pogonias by some authorities, including P. Grubb and colleagues in their 2003 review. C. P. Groves considered it to be a distinct species, with three subspecies: wolfi , pyrogaster, and elegans. A. Gautier-Hion and colleagues in their guide to Central African primates published in 1999 included denti as a fourth subspecies. Here, Grovesis followed by recognizing wolfi as a distinct species. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

C.w.wolfiMeyer,1891—DRCongo,betweentheCongoandSankururivers;StotheKasaiRiver(7°30”S);theCongo-LualabariversystemappearstobethemajorbarrierintheNandE.

C.w.elegans—Dubois&Matschie,1912—DRCongobetweentheLomamiandLualabarivers(2—4°S),StothesavannaandNtothebarrierofaswampforestthatseparatesitfromthesubspecieswolfi.

C. w. pyrogaster Lonnberg, 1919 — DR Congo S of Kasai River, limited to a narrow area between the Kwango River in the W and the Lulua River, a tributary of the Kasai River, in the E.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 28-54 cm (males) and 46 cm (females), tail 71-72 cm (males) and 60-66 cm (females); weight 3.8-6.5 kg (males) and 2.8-3.7 kg (females). Males are larger than females. Wolf’s Monkey is dark gray and generally redder on the back. Arms are black, legs are reddish, and underside is sharply demarcated white, yellow, or red. Terminal one-third to half of the tail is black. Wolfs Monkey has a pale brow band, two lateral black crown stripes, and red or white ear tufts. Body hairs are gray at the base, with three or four alternating light/dark bands. Scrotum is blue. The “Congo Basin Wolf’s Monkey” (C. w. wolfi ) has a medium dorsal chestnut patch, red legs, a yellow underside sometimes with an orange stripe along flanks, yellow cheek whiskers speckled with black, and red ear tufts. The “Fire-bellied Wolf's Monkey” (C. w. pyrogaster) is similar to the Congo Basin Wolf’s Monkey but more deeply colored. Its arms are speckled with yellowish white,its underside is red, and its cheek whiskers are buffy, speckled with black. In the “Lomami River Wolfs Monkey” (C. w. elegans), back is brown becoming darker toward rump, forearms are black with pale speckling on upper arms, legs are light gray, underside is white, cheek whiskers are yellowish-white with dark speckling, darker posteriorly, and ear tufts are white.

Habitat. The Congo Basin Wolf's Monkey lives in a variety of forest types, including high-canopy tropical evergreen primary forest and secondary, seasonal, and swamp forest. The scant literature available suggests that it occurs at 350-500 m above sea level. It is also reported in Mbau forest ( Gilbertiodendron deweuvrei, Fabaceae , monodominant forest) in Lomako, Caesalpinoideae-dominated forest in Salonga National Park, seasonally flooded forest, and slope forest. The Lomami River Wolf’s Monkey occurs in riparian forest and savanna mosaics. Habitats of the Fire-bellied Wolf’s Monkey have not been described in the literature.

Food and Feeding. Several studies of feeding behavior of the Congo Basin Wolf's Monkey report a diet offruit (27-47%), seeds (20-49-8%), young and mature leaves (20-29%), flowers (5—=11%), and insects (20%). The diets of Lomami River and Firebellied Wolf's monkeys have not been explicitly described, but they are probably similar to that of the Congo Basin Wolf's Monkey.

Breeding. There is no specific information available for this species. The gestation period of a captive individual was 170 days.

Activity patterns. Wolf's Monkeys are diurnal and highly arboreal. In the Lomako Forest, DR Congo, they usually travel and forage in the middle and upper forest canopy at heights of c.17 m, and they have never been seen below 5 m. They spend ¢.65% of their time at heights of 5-20 m and 35% at 20-40 m. Aspects of locomotion and posture have not been reported, but they are probably similar to the closely related Crowned Monkey ( C. pogonias ).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Wolf's Monkeys live in hierarchical, male-dominated, unimale-multifemale groups. Groups of 10-30 individuals have been recorded in Salonga National Park and Lomako and Malabi forests. Solitary males have also been reported. There is no information available for Lomami River Wolf’s and the Fire-bellied Wolf’s monkeys.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List (as C. pogonias wolfi ), but the subspecies elegans (as C. pogonias elegans) is classified as Near Threatened. The subspecies pyrogaster has not been assessed. Wolf’s Monkey is listed as Class B in the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The Congo Basin Wolf’s Monkey has a widespread distribution. Although its population is declining, it is notlikely to be declining fast enough to be considered threatened. The Lomami River Wolf’s Monkey is subject to hunting and habitat loss in its very restricted distribution. It is believed that the population has declined 20-25% over the past 27 years, almost qualifying it for a threatened category.

Bibliography. Colyn (1988, 1994), Colyn & Verheyen (1988), Gautier-Hion, Colyn & Gautier (1999), Gautier-Hion, Gautier & Maisels (1993), Goodwin (2011c), Groves (2001, 2005b), Grubb et al. (2003), Hill (1966), Kingdon (1997), McGraw (1994), Oates, Hart & Groves (2008a), Zeeve (1991).

Figures

59. Dryas Monkey (Cercopithecus dryas), 60. Diana Monkey (Cercopithecus diana), 61. Roloway Monkey (Cercopithecus roloway), 62. De Brazza’s Monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus), 63. Mona Monkey (Cercopithecus mona), 64. Campbell's Monkey (Cercopithecus campbelli), 65. Lowe's Monkey (Cercopithecus lowei), 66. Crowned Monkey (Cercopithecus pogonias), 67. Wolf's Monkey (Cercopithecus wolf), 68. Dent's Monkey (Cercopithecus dent)

Subspecies and Distribution. C.w.wolfiMeyer,1891—DRCongo,betweentheCongoandSankururivers;StotheKasaiRiver(7°30”S);theCongo-LualabariversystemappearstobethemajorbarrierintheNandE. C.w.elegans—Dubois&Matschie,1912—DRCongobetweentheLomamiandLualabarivers(2—4°S),StothesavannaandNtothebarrierofaswampforestthatseparatesitfromthesubspecieswolfi. C. w. pyrogaster Lonnberg, 1919 — DR Congo S of Kasai River, limited to a narrow area between the Kwango River in the W and the Lulua River, a tributary of the Kasai River, in the E.