Greater spot-nosed monkey

The greater spot-nosed monkey, also called the putty-nosed monkey, Cercopithecus nictitans, is one of the smallest Old World monkeys. It is a guenon of the Cercopithecus mitis group, native to West Africa, and lives partly in rain forest but more often in the transition zone between rain forest and savannah. Both common names refer to the prominent white patch on its nose. The monkey is mainly arboreal and often travels with monkeys of other species. Groups consist of one adult male, several adult females and their dependent young. Little recent research has covered its behaviour, and most of it has dealt with its calls. Males give three call types described as booms, pyows and hacks, used in several settings including alarms. Researchers have argued that the alarm calls change with the kind of predator seen, and that the monkey joins different sounds into sequences that carry a meaning unlike that of the separate sounds.