biology

Western red colobus

Western red colobus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Western red colobus rather than just read about it. In short: The western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius), also known as the bay red colobus, rust red colobus or Upper Guinea red colobus, is a species of Old World monkey in West African forests from Senegal to Ghana. All other species of red colobuses have formerly been considered subspecies of P. badius.

Key takeaways

Western red colobus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Western red colobus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Western red colobus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius), also known as the bay red colobus, rust red colobus or Upper Guinea red colobus, is a species of Old World monkey in West African forests from Senegal to Ghana. All other species of red colobuses have formerly been considered subspecies of P. badius. The monkey is a frequent prey of the common chimpanzee. In 1994, western red colobus monkeys infected many chimpanzees with Ebola virus after being hunted and consumed by the chimps.

Subspecies The western red colobus has two subspecies, including the nominate:

Bay red colobus, Piliocolobus badius badius Temminck's red colobus, Piliocolobus badius temminckii Both subspecies are endangered.

Description The western red colobus grows to a head-and-body length of 450 to 670 mm (18 to 26 in) with a tail of 520 to 800 mm (20 to 31 in), and a weight of between 5 and 11 kg (11 and 24 lb). It has red or chestnut-brown head and limbs and black, slatey-grey or dark brown upper parts. It does not have long fringes of hair, or tufts of hair on the tail. Compared to monkeys in the genus Colobus, the nostrils are V-shaped, the digits are long and the big toe is short.

Distribution and habitat The red colobus is endemic to tropical West Africa. Its range includes various fragmentary populations in Sierra Leone, and contiguous populations in Liberia, Guinea and western Ivory Coast. It is unclear exactly where the ranges of P. b. badius and P. b. temminckii meet, but P. b. badius populations are separated from P. b. waldronae by the Bandama River in Ivory Coast. The red colobus is an arboreal species, typically found in primary rainforest, but also inhabiting secondary forest and gallery forest.

Ecology The red colobus lives in colonies of between twelve and eighty members. There are usually several males and up to three times this number of adult females. There is a social hierarchy, giving access to food, space and grooming.

References

External links

ARKive - images and movies of the Red colobus (Procolobus badius)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Western red colobus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Western red colobus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Western red colobus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Western red colobus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Western red colobus

In research: Western red colobus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Western red colobus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Western red colobus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Arboreal mammals, Ebola, Endangered fauna of Africa, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Western red colobus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Western red colobus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Western red colobus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Western red colobus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Western red colobus in simple terms?

Why does Western red colobus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Western red colobus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Western red colobus.