Procolobus (Piliocolobus) badius badius (Kerr, 1792)

O'LEARY, RUTH, 2003, An Annotated Catalog of the African Primate Genera Colobus and Procolobus (Cercopithecidae: Colobinae) in the Collections of the American Museum of Natural History, American Museum Novitates 3399 (1), pp. 1-26 : 10-12

Procolobus (Piliocolobus) badius badius (Kerr, 1792)

PELAGE NOTES: Two rich colors are seen in this subspecies—black and maroon. Neither color lessens in intensity throughout the coat, as is often seen in the varying shades of brown observed in the pelages of other subspecies. Black head, maroon cheeks. Nape black with maroon shoulders. Back and rump black. Sides maroon. Upper arms black, lower arms and hands maroon. Thighs black, legs and feet maroon. Tail black from base to tip.

RANGE OF SPECIMENS: Liberia to Ivory Coast. The range of the subspecies is from Sierra Leone, eastern Guinea, to western Ivory Coast. Eastern limit of their range is thought to be the Bandama River ( Dandelot, 1971; Groves, 2001).

SPECIMENS: Appendix 1 , no. 14.

Procolobus (Piliocolobus) badius bouvieri ( Rochebrune, 1886 –1887)

TAXONOMIC NOTES: This subspecies was considered by Dandelot (1971), Delson et al. (1982), and Groves (2001) to be a subspecies of pennantii .

PELAGE NOTES: The skin specimen in the collection is not in good condition. The head, feet, and hands are missing. The shoulders are cream­colored, the midline of the back is dark red to brown. The rest of the pelage is bright red to orange.

RANGE OF SPECIMENS: The collectors of this specimen noted the location as Ouesso, Congo; the skin is more than likely a trade skin, so the exact locality cannot be determined. The distribution of the subspecies is northern Congo (Brazzaville). Rahm (1970) noted the distribution as including the Rivers Sangha and Likouala. Dandelot (1971) stated that the distribution may also include the confluence of the Congo and Oubangui Rivers.

SPECIMENS: Appendix 1 , no. 15.

Procolobus (Piliocolobus) badius ellioti (Dollman, 1909)

TAXONOMIC NOTES: Three specimens collected by Lang and Chapin were classed as a new species, Colobus langi by Allen (1925). This name was later considered a synonym of ellioti . However, as mentioned previously, it is now thought that the species ellioti may actually be comprised of a number of distinct species and hybrids ( Colyn, 1991). In fact, a comparison of Allen’s langi specimens to the one considered by him to be C. ellioti (52286) may support this proposition. All five specimens in the collection are from the northeast of DRC. The collection localities on the Lang and Chapin map appear to be separated by rivers, although it is difficult to conclude from the map if real geographic boundaries exist. For the purposes of this catalog, all of the specimens are tentatively included in P. b. ellioti . Two distinct phenotypes can be seen in the collection. The two morphological characters used by Allen (1925) to distinguish the C. ellioti and C. langi specimens were body size (C. langi being smaller) and the abrupt transition in color observed on the back of C. langi . That transition can be seen in specimens 52290, 52291, 52292, and 119607. However, the latter is larger in body size than the first three specimens. The abrupt color transition is not evident in specimen 52286. It remains to be seen how the taxonomy of this group will be resolved.

Dandelot (1971) considered ellioti to be a potential species, while Delson et al. (1982) considered it a subspecies of pennantii . Groves (2001) included ellioti as a subspecies of foai .

PELAGE NOTES: Group 1: Specimen 52286. Auburn head and cheeks. Nape speckled lightly with black. Shoulders light auburn. Upper back deep auburn­brown, grading to brown at sides of mid­back and rump. No abrupt transition in back coloration. Sides brown, underparts cream. Forelimbs auburn, hands reddish­brown. Hind limbs light brown from thigh to foot, feet darker brown. Tail brown. Group 2: Specimen 119607. Auburn head and cheeks. Nape, shoulders, top of back rich auburn. Abrupt transition to dark brown at mid­back, grading into lighter brown at rump. Forelimbs and hands auburn. Hind limbs brown from thighs to feet, feet darker brown. Tail dark brown to tip. Specimens 52290, 52291, and 52292 are similar in coloration but are considerably smaller in size than specimen 119607. The major difference in coloration between these two groups is the transition between auburn and brown on the back. It is an obvious and distinguishing feature of the latter group.

RANGE OF SPECIMENS: All specimens of P. b. ellioti in this collection were collected from northeastern DRC. Procolobus b. ellioti is found in eastern DRC, the Ituri forest, and at least as far south as Lake Edward ( Dandelot, 1971).

SPECIMENS: Appendix 1 , no. 16.

Procolobus (Piliocolobus) badius oustaleti (Trouessart, 1906)

TAXONOMIC NOTES: Lang and Chapin collected all but one of these specimens. In his notes on this collection, Allen (1925) divided the specimens into two subspecies— Colobus powelli powelli and Colobus powelli brunneus. The main reason behind this separation was the variation in color. The specimens from the forest galleries of the savannah country were considered much paler and duller in tone (C. p. brunneus) than the more richly colored specimens from the rainforests (C. p. powelli). The author did however remark on the ‘‘extremely wide range of color variation’’ within the entire group. Almost every description of pelage in terms of sex, age, and locality has to be qualified by numerous exceptions. Both names (powelli and brunneus) were later considered synonyms of oustaleti . This subspecies itself is also considered to be a subspecies of rufomitratus ( Dandelot, 1971) , pennantii ( Delson et al., 1982) , or foai ( Groves, 2001) .

PELAGE NOTES: Considerable variation in pelage color is seen in the skins of this group. The amount of red in the pelage varies from its complete absence to auburn­infused brown. The following description is general. Head usually dark brown, lighter brown cheeks. Nape of neck dark brown, shoulders brown. Back coloration grades from dark brown to lighter at rump. Sides medium brown to reddish brown. Underparts light colored. Forelimbs brown, tinged with red, cream underneath. Hands and feet dark brown or black. Hind limbs medium brown to reddish brown. Tail dark brown. The overall impression of coat color in this group is one of nondescript, dull brown tones. The near absence of red coloration distinguishes the group from other subspecies. There is little evidence of color transition or of the rich hues seen in the other subspecies in this collection. There are three specimens of infant skins in the P. b. oustaleti collection. Two of the specimens (52274 and 52328) have no red coloration and are duller in tone than the adult skins. The third infant pelage (52318) has some red coloration appearing on the head .

RANGE OF SPECIMENS: Most of the specimens collected are from northeast DRC, in the vicinity of Faradje. The range of this subspecies extends from eastern Congo (Brazzaville) across DRC and as far east as Lake Albert and the Ituri River ( Dandelot, 1971).

SPECIMENS: Appendix 1 , no. 17.

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