Mantled Guereza - Physical Description

Physical Description

The mantled guereza has a distinctive pelage, being mostly black with a white mantle, also known as an ornamentation, and a white tail tuft. The bands that make up the mantle start at the shoulders and extend along the back until they connect at the lower torso. The tail tuft varies in how much it covers the tail. Both of these features vary in color among subspecies. There is also white hair around the face with the hair between the cheeks being bushy. The thigh has a white stripe. The guereza typically weighs 9.3-13.5 kg (20.5-29.8 lbs) and 7.8-9.2 kg (17.2-20.3 lbs) for males and females respectively. The head and body length averages 61.5 cm (24.2 in) for males and 57.6 cm (22.7 in) for females. Like most colobi, the guereza has a small thumb that is primitive. There is variation among the subspecies in the size differences between the sexes in dentition. In some, there is lesser difference between those of the males and females, in others, males have larger teeth than females and in others the reverse is true.