Western red colobus

Appearance

The western red colobus grows to a head-and-body length of 450 to 670 mm with a tail of 520 to 800 mm , and a weight of between 5 and 11 kg . It has red or chestnut-brown head and limbs and black, slatey-grey or dark brown upper parts. It does not have long fringes of hair, or tufts of hair on the tail. Compared to monkeys in the genus ''Colobus'', the nostrils are V-shaped, the digits are long and the big toe short.

Naming

According to Groves the Western red colobus has three subspecies, including the nominate:
⤷ Bay red colobus, ''Piliocolobus badius badius''
⤷ Temminck's red colobus, ''Piliocolobus badius temminckii''
⤷ Miss Waldron's red colobus, ''Piliocolobus badius waldronae''

''P. b. waldronae'' is critically endangered, possibly even extinct. The other two subspecies are endangered. Under more recent taxonomies, these are generally considered separate species. Groves concurs with this revision, although not all primatologists agree.

Distribution

The red colobus is endemic to tropical West Africa. Its range includes various fragmentary populations in Sierra Leone, and contiguous populations in Liberia, Guinea and western Ivory Coast. It is unclear exactly where the ranges of ''P. b. badius'' and ''P. b. temminckii'' meet, but ''P. b. badius'' populations are separated from ''P. b. waldronae'' by the Bandama River in Ivory Coast. The red colobus is an arboreal species, typically found in primary rainforest, but also inhabiting secondary forest and gallery forest.

Habitat

The red colobus is endemic to tropical West Africa. Its range includes various fragmentary populations in Sierra Leone, and contiguous populations in Liberia, Guinea and western Ivory Coast. It is unclear exactly where the ranges of ''P. b. badius'' and ''P. b. temminckii'' meet, but ''P. b. badius'' populations are separated from ''P. b. waldronae'' by the Bandama River in Ivory Coast. The red colobus is an arboreal species, typically found in primary rainforest, but also inhabiting secondary forest and gallery forest.The red colobus lives in colonies of between twelve and eighty members. There are usually several males and up to three times this number of adult females. There is a social hierarchy, giving access to food, space and grooming.