It’s the smallest of the Old World monkeys: an adult’s body is only a few dozen centimeters long, with a tail that’s even longer, and it usually weighs under two kilos. Its fur is coarsely banded yellow and black on the back and sides, with a clean white or greyish-white chest and belly, helping it blend into sun-dappled foliage. The head is round with a short snout and a mostly bare face. Compared with its northern cousin, the Gabon talapoin, the Angolan talapoin tends to have darker skin around the nose and ears. Big eyes, a neat little muzzle, and a long balancing tail give it a permanently “baby-faced” look, even when it’s fully grown.

What really makes this monkey special is its close relationship with water. Angolan talapoins live along forested rivers and streams in Angola and neighboring areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, usually in dense green thickets right at the water’s edge. They often sleep at night on branches that hang over the river; if a predator climbs toward them, or if humans come too close, their escape move is to drop straight into the water, dive, and swim away. For a monkey, that’s a pretty dramatic trick. During the day, they spend most of their time in the trees but will also come down to the ground to forage, always staying within quick leaping distance of cover or water.

Angolan talapoins are also big fans of crowded social life. Wild groups can contain dozens of monkeys, sometimes close to a hundred, made up of several adult males, many females, and lots of youngsters. At night, they bunch together in trees near the water, but at sunrise the large group often breaks into smaller parties that spread out along the riverbanks to search for food.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Angola

2018

Angola

DR Congo (Kinshasa)

2018