JASs Invited Reviews Journal of Anthropological Sciences Vol. 85 (2007), pp. 7-34 The taxonomic diversity of the Colobinae of Africa Colin P. Groves School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia e-mail:
[email protected] Summary - Th e colobine monkeys of Africa are much more diverse than is often realized; in the case of Red Colobus (genus Piliocolobus), this is because the species replace each other geographically, and there is even some interbreeding where their ranges meet. It is not possible to make a modern taxonomic revision of Black-and-white Colobus (genus Colobus), in the absence of a thorough modern study to determine consistency of the diff erences between the taxa deemed to be subspecies of the two polytypic species, C. angolensis and C. guereza. Red Colobus, in particular, are by their behaviour extremely vulnerable, and one species is presumed extinct, and another has not been seen for some years. Keywords - Colobus, Taxonomy, Biogeography, Piliocolobus, Procolobus, Africa, Cercopithecoidea. Introduction the mouth of the Saccus, but its exact function is unknown. Liquid ingesta, especially fruit Th e Old World monkeys are divided into two juices, bypass the fermentation chamber, going subfamilies: Cercopithecinae and Colobinae. Th e directly via a groove (which is closed off into a Colobinae are commonly known as ‘leaf eaters’, tube by longitudinal muscle bands) into the Pars but this is too sweeping: while it is true that they Pylorica. Th e colobine multipartite stomach are capable of subsisting on leaves to a much has been likened to the ruminant stomach, greater degree than probably any other primate, although structurally and probably functionally detailed fi eld study has shown that many species the stomach of Macropodidae (kangaroos and are in fact specialized seed eaters as much as leaf wallabies) is probably a better comparison.