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Vervet monkey

Chlorocebus pygerythrus

Description:

The Vervet Monkey is not usually able to reproduce until they are about five years old, although their age of sexual maturity is known to vary slightly and may be dependent on how much food they have access too. After about 5 and a half months, females give birth to a single infant which is cleaned by it's mother at birth, and clings to her stomach during the first week or so. Vervet Monkey babies quickly develop strong social bonds with other monkeys and are known to begin interacting and playing with them by the time they are a month old. They have pink faces and black fur and don't tend to develop their adult colouration until they are a few months old. Vervet Monkey offspring suckle on their mother's milk until they are nearly four months old and start to eat softer vegetation, but they are not fully weaned until they are about a year old.

Habitat:

Mixed forrest, next to a gravel road.

Notes:

The different types of vervets vary in color, but generally the body is a greenish-olive or silvery-gray. The face, ears, hands, feet and tip of the tail are black, but a conspicuous white band on the forehead blends in with the short whiskers. The males are slightly larger than the females and easily recognized by their turquoise blue scrota.

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7 Comments

RiekoS
RiekoS 10 years ago

Very nice.

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

Questions would have been asked about the milkman.

Tiz
Tiz 10 years ago

Mark, that was an interesting thought...
And since I am a curious person myself, I just had to do a little research.
The result is a great link and some added information regarding reproduction and the change of face colour.

Happy days, and thank you for the comment :)

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

Fabulous! I wonder what age when the young face changes colour.

Tiz
Tiz 10 years ago

Thank you Hazel and Gilma, the baby was so small and cute, I had to take photos of it. And I think the poor little one have a small wound on his nose. I hope the first weeks of its life has not been to rough...

HazelMarley
HazelMarley 10 years ago

So adorable!!

Tiz
Spotted by
Tiz

Nkomazi Local Municipality, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Spotted on Dec 13, 2013
Submitted on Dec 27, 2013

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