Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
Chlorocebus aethiops is being threatened by continous deforestation and and destruction of their natural habitat. CITES Appendix 2. (Parker, 1983)
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Chlorocebus aethiops is separated evolutionarily from humans by more than 50 million years. Their resemblance to Homo sapiens, however, in characteristics such as the nervous system, reproduction systems, and suceptibility to certain parasites make them especially desireable for biological studies. (Harris, 1970)
Positive Impacts: research and education
As frugivorous monkeys, vervets may play some role in seed dispersal. Because they sometimes prey on other animals, they may act as a check on populations of certain insects, birds, and small mammals. As a prey species, they are likely to impact predator populations.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Chlorocebus aethiops is omnivorous but with a heavy emphasis on fruit. Their diets often Include insects, vegetable matter, and at times, small mammals and birds. (Harris, 1970)
Animal Foods: birds; mammals; insects
Plant Foods: leaves; fruit
Primary Diet: omnivore
Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) are found from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to South Africa. These monkeys are found in northeast Africa from the Red Sea near Tokar, south through Abyssinia as far as 5 degrees north, and west to the eastern range of the Tantalus. (Hill,1965)
Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )
Bush steppe country in tablelands of the Southern Sudan and Abyssinia. Vervets must drink water daily in the dry seasons, and therefore their habitat is limited to those near constant water supplies. (Hill, 1965)
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; scrub forest
Average lifespan
Sex: male
Status: captivity: 31.6 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 31.0 years.
Average lifespan
Sex: male
Status: captivity: 23.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 30.0 years.
Chlorocebus aethiops is usually around 400 to 600 mm in length (head and body), with tales about 300 to 500 mm. weights typically range between 3 and 5 kg. Males are larger than females. All individuals have close-fitting moderate length hairs over most of the body, and elongated side-whiskers. The whiskers are usually a lighter color (white or pale yellow) and differ in length from individual to individual. The faces of vervet monkeys are usually sooty black. A defining characteristic of this species is the greenish color of the upper parts of the face, which is caused by the banding together of individual hairs with black and yellow strands. In males, the scrotum and surrounding areas are bright blue or a greenish color. (Hill, 1965; Parker, 1983)
Range mass: 3 to 5 kg.
Range length: 400 to 600 mm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger
Vervet monkeys fall prey to leopards, snakes and raptors, as do other savanah monkeys. They may also be preyed upon by baboons.
Females typically have few mates in their lifetime, whereas some males have numerous mates. (Sellers)
Mating System: polygynous
Little is known about the reproductive habits of C. aethiops; however, like most primates, they are cyclically receptive. Visual changes in the vulva of females, such as swelling, alert the males as to when the females are in heat.
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Average birth mass: 314 g.
Average gestation period: 162 days.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 1825 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 1034 days.
Females take a strong interest in raising their young. Within the social groups, other females often share this task with the mother.
Parental Investment: pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); extended period of juvenile learning
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The grivet (Chlorocebus aethiops) is an Old World monkey with long white tufts of hair along the sides of its face. Some authorities consider this and all of the members of the genus Chlorocebus to be a single species, Cercopithecus aethiops.[1] As here defined, the grivet is restricted to Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea.[2] In the southern part of its range, it comes into contact with the closely related vervet monkey (C. pygerythrus) and Bale Mountains vervet (C. djamdjamensis).[4] Hybridization between them is possible, and may present a threat to the vulnerable Bale Mountains vervet.[4] Unlike that species, the grivet is common and rated as least concern by the IUCN.[2]
The grivet's facial skin, hands, and feet are black. The face has a white line above the eyes. It has long, white whiskers on the cheeks. The fur on the back has an olive color, while the front is white. The skin on the stomach has a blue tint. The fur has a bristly feel. The approximate head and body length for males is 49 cm (19 in) and 42.6 cm (16.8 in) for females.[5] The length of the tail for males is about 30–50 cm (12–20 in).[6] The body mass ranges from 3.4 to 8.0 kg (7.5 to 17.6 lb), with females at the smaller end of the scale.[5]
The main habitat of the grivet is savanna woodlands.[2] Its range is Sudan east of the White Nile, Eritrea, and Ethiopia east to the Rift Valley.[1][7] It is also found in Djibouti.[2] The grivet needs to live around a source of water, especially during the dry season. It is able to adapt to many environments.[2]
In Tigrinya language: ወዓግ (wi’ag)[7]
The grivet is most active in the morning and early evening. It stays on the ground most of the day to eat, and at night it sleeps in trees. The grivet spends a lot of time grooming, playing, climbing, and play fighting; all of these things help to ensure its survival. Its eating habits consist of eating mostly fruits, vegetables, and sometimes small mammals, insects, and birds, making it an omnivore. It also scavenges for human food. It must drink water daily, especially in the dry seasons. It is one of few species that has multiple-male groups that are of moderate size. In the hierarchy of males, an individual shows his dominance by putting his tail in a stiff, upright position and strolling past lower-ranked males.[8] They travel in packs, and usually move on all fours or quadrupedally, except when using both hands for carrying, when they manage to walk and run quite comfortably on two legs. Groups can range from five to over 70.[5]
Females will have a limited number of mates, while males may have several. Swelling of the female's vulva alerts males as to when she is in estrus. Giving birth to one baby at a time is common, and gestation usually lasts 2-3 months. When the baby is born, the mother cleans the infant and bites off the umbilical cord. Young have pink faces and black hair. Around two months are needed for them to get their adult coats. The first few months, the infant stays very close to its mother, but after 6 months, the infant is weaned.[5]
Grivets are occasionally hunted as bushmeat. They are killed for either commercial or subsistence purposes. Although not endangered, they are threatened through destruction of habitat - forests. They are preyed on by large snakes, leopards, humans, and sometimes baboons.[9] Grivets may live for 13 years.[5]
The grivet is one of five species of monkeys known to have been kept in ancient Egypt, the others being the hamadryas baboon, the olive baboon, the patas monkey, and the barbary macaque. Grivets were imported from the Land of Punt, as attested in paintings and in the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor. They were sometimes traded as far afield as Assyria. They are rarer in representations than baboons, and unlike baboons, do not seem to have borne individual names.[10]
Grivets are depicted on Egyptian tombs as house pets and on leashes. In some depictions, they may symbolize male sexuality. Early Dynastic statuettes of grivets have been found in sanctuaries, where they may have been votive offerings to the baboon god. A grivet shooting a bow was an aspect of the invisible god Atum, and at Deltaic Babylon, a grivet was the town god represented by a statue in the temple.[10]
Since the 1960s, the grivet has been harvested on an industrial scale by humans for their kidneys, which are used in poliovirus and adenovirus vaccine production. In 1967, the Marburg virus in grivets caused the death of 31 vaccine manufacturers.[11] In the medical literature, the grivet and the green monkey are often confused. They are also used in medical research such as the testing of dengue vaccines as well as in the testing of human cosmetics.[12]
female in Ethiopia The grivet (Chlorocebus aethiops) is an Old World monkey with long white tufts of hair along the sides of its face. Some authorities consider this and all of the members of the genus Chlorocebus to be a single species, Cercopithecus aethiops. As here defined, the grivet is restricted to Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea. In the southern part of its range, it comes into contact with the closely related vervet monkey (C. pygerythrus) and Bale Mountains vervet (C. djamdjamensis). Hybridization between them is possible, and may present a threat to the vulnerable Bale Mountains vervet. Unlike that species, the grivet is common and rated as least concern by the IUCN.
