Preuss’s Monkey

• Common Name: Preuss’s Monkey
• Taxonomy Classification Year: 1898
• Monkey Size: 31.7 to 68.6 cm (12.5 to 27 in)
• Skin Color(s): Black
• Habitat: Forest, mountain
• Diet: Omnivorous
• Native Countries: Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea

The Preuss’s monkey^[1] (Allochrocebus preussi), also called the Preuss’s guenon, is a diurnal primate that inhabits terrestrial montane forests (up to 2, 500 meters) in eastern Nigeria, western Cameroon, and Bioko in Equatorial Guinea.

• It was previously classified as a subspecies of L’Hoest’s monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti). Preuss’s monkeys are large primates with short, thick black fur in various colors.
• A fluffy white section extends from the throat to the ears like a giant beard, and the limbs and belly are black.
• Their head, back, and tails are all splashed with white, making them look like someone was standing over them as they ate a particularly dusty funnel cake.
• Preuss’s monkeys are sexually dimorphic in size. Both sexes are mostly the same color, although males have a light blue scrotum.
• Females are also smaller and lighter than males.

• They sleep upright in trees, clinging to each other or to branches. Then, each member chooses a favorite place to sleep to return to each night.
• Preuss’s monkeys usually live in small groups consisting of 10 to 17 females, their young, and one male.
• Hunted by Bonelli’s crowned eagles, Preuss’s monkeys flee from the trees to the ground.
• Preuss monkeys rarely associate with other monkey species.
• For visual displays of threat, Preuss’s monkeys fix their eyes on the subject, raise their eyebrows, stretch the skin of their face, prick their ears back, and occasionally nod their heads.