The Central African red colobus (Procolobus foai) is an Old World monkey

Old World monkey

The Old World monkeys or Cercopithecidae are a group of primates, falling in the superfamily Cercopithecoidea in the clade Catarrhini. The Old World monkeys are native to Africa and Asia today, inhabiting a range of environments from tropical rain forest to savanna, shrubland and mountainous...

 in the Cercopithecidae family. It is found in humid forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of the Congo

Republic of the Congo

The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...

, the Central African Republic

Central African Republic

The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...

, and Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 is potentially confusing. Procolobus foai has, together with all other red colobus

Red colobus

Red colobuses are Old World monkeys of the subgenus Piliocolobus in genus Procolobus. Some authors elevate Piliocolobus to a full genus, limiting Procolobus to the olive colobus. They are closely related to the black-and-white colobus monkeys and some species are often found in groups with the...

es, been considered a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of Procolobus badius. When considered a separate species, the scientific name Procolobus oustaleti (Trouessart

Trouessart

Trouessart is surname of:* Édouard Louis Trouessart , a French zoologist* Trouessart's Trident Bat...

, 1906) has been used for the Central African Red Colobus, but this is incorrect, as the taxon

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

 foai precedes oustaleti by 7 years. Additionally, the taxon tephrosceles has been considered a subspecies of the Central African red colobus, but following Groves

Colin Groves

Colin Peter Groves is Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.Born in England on 24 June 1942, Colin Groves completed a Bachelor of Science at University College London in 1963, and a Doctor of Philosophy at the Royal Free Hospital School of...

 (2001) it is here recognized as a separate species, the Ugandan red colobus

Ugandan Red Colobus

The Ugandan red colobus is a species of red colobus monkey found in forests of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and western Tanzania. It has been considered a subspecies of P. badius, and later a subspecies of P. foai. It was recognised as a distinct species by Groves in 2001, while others have suggested...

. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the Central African red colobus should be considered a subspecies of P. rufomitratus. As here defined, the Central African red colobus has 5 subspecies, although these are variable and hard to separate:

• Procolobus foai foai
• Procolobus foai ellioti
• Procolobus foai oustaleti
• Procolobus foai semlikiensis
• Procolobus foai parmentierorum