Agile mangabeys are likely carriers of some human diseases or, at least, or strains closely related to human versions of the same disease. These include T-cell leukemia virus and probably Simian Immunodeficiency Virus as well. Since agile mangabeys are hunted for bushmeat, the potential for mutated strains of these viruses to jump hosts and spread to human populations is greatly increased. This species is also viewed by locals in the areas where it lives as a crop pest.
Negative Impacts: injures humans (carries human disease); crop pest
Non-human predation on agile mangabeys is relatively low because of the environments in which these monkeys typically live. Terrestrial predators can not easily hunt in swampy or flooded areas, and predatory birds can not easily pick off animals living in dense undergrowth. However, leopards (Panthera pardus), pythons (Python), and crowned eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus) are all known to feed on agile mangabeys to some extent. Agile mangabeys are also hunted by humans as a sources of bush meat.
Anti-predator adaptations of this species, aside from its difficult environment, include alarm-calling. The particular alarm call of the agile mangabey is a long-series, high-frequency "chuckle."
Known Predators:
Except for the tail region, the pelage of agile mangabeys is brownish-gray agouti that becomes darker on the back; the tail is agouti only at the base of the fur. The tips of the fur are generally black on the dorsal side of the body. The entire underside is a lighter fawn color. Hair on the head radiates out from a whorl just above the forehead. The bare skin of the hands and feet is black. Except for the upper eyelids, the skin of the ears and face is also black with a border of lighter skin at the hair line. The facial skin of infants begins light but darkens as they age. Color morphs of both light and dark variety reportedly co-occur with the typical color pattern. The size of this species varies somewhat, with western populations being slightly larger than eastern ones. All individuals have relatively long non-prehensile tails. Sexual dimorphism is significant, with adult females attaining only 60 percent of the mass of adult males.
The skull of agile mangabeys, like those of other members of genus Cercocebus, is exceptionally broad. Unlike other members of the subfamily Cercopithecinae, the upper molars of Cercocebus species are wider than they are long. The genus also possesses a "molar flare," which is shared with the rest of Cercopithecinae (other than guenons), as well as a long auditory meatus, wide interorbital pillar, and convex nasal bone. However, agile mangabeys have shorter and narrower skulls and smaller teeth than other Cercocebus species.
Range mass: 5 to 13 kg.
Range length: 44 to 65 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger
Agile mangabeys live for as long as 20 years in the wild, but average lifespan is unknown. Few agile mangabeys are kept in captivity, so their lifespan in captivity is also unknown.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 20 (high) years.
Agile mangabeys live primarily in periodically flooded primary forests near bodies of fresh water. However, some populations in southern portions of the Central African Republic reportedly live in non-flooded mixed forests away from bodies of water. Agile mangabeys favor the understory and are generally terrestrial while feeding or traveling.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: rainforest
Wetlands: swamp
Other Habitat Features: riparian
Agile mangabeys, Cercocebus agilis, are found only in forested regions of central Africa that lie north of the Congo river. Currently, this species is found in southeastern Cameroon, eastern portions of continental Equatorial Guinea, northeastern Gabon, northern parts of the Republic of the Congo, southern and central parts of the Central African Republic, and northern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )
Agile mangabeys are generalized omnivores that feed on plant, fungi, and animal material. They prefer both ripe and unripe fruits and, particularly, old hard nuts and seeds that they open with their robust molars and thickened enamel. These nuts may be found on the ground or buried beneath and even in elephant dung that the monkeys go through. Furthermore, agile mangabeys have large incisors and particularly strong jaw muscles that can be used to crack open fruits and pods too tough for other sympatric species of monkeys. Besides fruit, nuts, and seeds, agile mangabeys consume leaves, monocotyledon hoots, the terminal tips of herbs and grasses, roots, fungi, buds, bird eggs, insects, and occasional vertebrates. Animal matter represents a significant part of their diet. Agile mangabeys are reported to spend 26 to 30 percent of their feeding foraging only for insects and have been known to kill vertebrates as large as young antelope. Like all "cheek pouch" monkeys, agile mangabeys are capable of gathering food into pouches in their cheeks to be saved for consumption later on.
Animal Foods: mammals; eggs; insects
Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers; seeds, grains, and nuts; fruit
Other Foods: fungus
Primary Diet: omnivore
The primary role that Cercocebus agilis likely plays in its environment is that of seed disperser. Since agile mangabeys specialize in breaking open and eating particularly tough fruits, seed pods, and nuts (many of which may remain on the forest floor for years before being eaten), it is likely that these monkeys play some role in the reproduction of the species of plants to which the fruits, nuts, and seed pods belong. They almost certainly affect the populations of the insects that they eat, since these make up a significant portion of their diet, and they probably have some small affect on small vertebrate populations within their home ranges. Agile mangabeys are also prey for larger predators.
Agile mangabeys serve as hosts for a variety of parasitic species. In a study published in 2002 and conducted on a variety of humans and non-human primates living in a park in the Central African Republic, agile mangabeys were found to host at least 7 different kinds of parasites, including ascaroid and strongylate helminths, trichomonads,and various protozoa.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Agile mangabeys are sometimes hunted for bushmeat.
Positive Impacts: food
Cercocebus agilis has a steady population and is not considered in current danger of extinction. However, deforestation is a potential threat to those populations not living in protected areas, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums has set up a Species Survival Plan for them. These animals are also occasionally killed for their meat and as pests.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Agile mangabeys communicate primarily through visual and auditory signals, but they may also use olfactory and tactile signals as well. Vocal communication is particularly important in a forested environment when danger calls emitted by one member of a group can alert the rest to the presence of a predator or communicate the group's position to other neighboring groups. Visual communication is typically used in interactions between members of the same group. Aggression, for example, is displayed through a combination of staring, raising the eyebrows, flashing the eyelids, bobbing the head, and opening the mouth while the teeth remain covered by the lips. Sexual readiness is indicated through "pouting." Olfactory communication is limited to pheromone production. Males, for instance, can check a female's estrous status by sniffing her when she presents to him. Tactile communication is limited primarily to instances in which one individual mounts another for non-sexual reasons; presenting for non-sexual reasons is linked to the pacification of dominant individuals by subordinate individuals. Like all primates, they perceive the world around them using smell, touch, taste, hearing, and, especially, vision.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Agile mangabeys live in small to medium-sized groups of animals that may include either one or several males. Females develop sexual swellings when they are in estrous. It is assumed that they are either polygynous or promiscuous, but not much is known about their mating behavior in the wild.
Mating System: polygynous ; polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Agile mangabeys begin breeding at age 4 to 5 and breed throughout the year with a gestation period of 165 to 175 days. They have only one offspring at a time. Newborn offspring are mostly hairless and cling to the underbelly fur of their mothers while the mothers move around.
Breeding interval: The breeding interval for agile mangabeys is not known.
Breeding season: Agile mangabeys breed year round.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Range gestation period: 165 to 175 days.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 4 to 5 years.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 4 to 5 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Parental care is provided primarily by the mother in the form of nursing and carrying infants. However, males sometimes hold and carry infants. It is not known whether or not this behavior correlates with paternity. Upon reaching independence, the young group with others of the same age and generally avoid adults.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Male, Female); extended period of juvenile learning
The agile mangabey (Cercocebus agilis) is an Old World monkey of the white-eyelid mangabey group found in swampy forests of Central Africa in Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, and DR Congo.[1] Until 1978, it was considered a subspecies of the Tana River mangabey (C. galeritus).[3] More recently, the golden-bellied mangabey (C. chrysogaster) has been considered a separate species instead of a subspecies of the agile mangabey.[1]
The agile mangabey has a short, overall dull olive-grey pelage.[4] The bare skin of the face and feet is blackish.[5] Males are 51–65 centimeters (20–26 inches) in length and weigh about 7–13 kilograms (15–29 lb), while the smaller females are 44–55 centimeters (17–22 inches) and weigh 5–7 kilograms (11–15 lb).[4]
Similar to other mangabeys, they are diurnal.[3] Although generally arboreal, they do spend a significant portion of their time (12–22%) on the ground,[5] especially during the dry season. It is typically more commonly heard than seen,[4] and males have a loud, species-specific call that is believed to be used to space themselves out.[3] Other calls are also used to maintain group cohesion and warn of predators.[5] Group size can be as high as 18 members, led by a single adult male. Group meetings can be friendly and may involve exchange of members. Adult males not in groups often travel singly.[4]
Fruit makes up a major portion of the agile mangabey diet. They are known to eat at least 42 different species of fruit.[5] Their tooth structure and powerful jaws allows them to open tough pods and fruits that many other monkeys can not access.[5] Agile mangabeys eat from a number of dominant swamp-forest trees, including dika nuts and sugar plums, when they are fruiting.[4] They also eat fresh leaf shoots from raffia palms when fruits are scarce. Grasses and mushrooms,[4] as well as insects, other invertebrates, bird's eggs and some vertebrate prey, such as rodents, are also eaten.[5]
Agile mangabeys are known to contract T-cell leukemia virus, similar to the leukemia virus that infects humans.[6] There is also evidence that they contract Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a virus related to human HIV that infects certain apes and monkeys.[7] They have rarely been kept in captivity,[5] with only three individuals held in Species360 registered institutions in July 2008.[8]
The agile mangabey (Cercocebus agilis) is an Old World monkey of the white-eyelid mangabey group found in swampy forests of Central Africa in Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, and DR Congo. Until 1978, it was considered a subspecies of the Tana River mangabey (C. galeritus). More recently, the golden-bellied mangabey (C. chrysogaster) has been considered a separate species instead of a subspecies of the agile mangabey.
