A craniometric study of the Black and White Colobus illiger 1811 (Primates: Cercopithecoidea)

This study examines the craniometry of Black and White Colobus monkeys using 1072 specimens representing all the recognized subspecies (after Rahm, '70) of the genus. Seventy‐six measurements were taken on each individual, and examined using canonical variates analysis and clustering by Ward's Error Sum method. The assumptions of the analytical techniques are shown to be met, and the results demonstrated to be stable. Examination of the populations for statistical difference and taxonomic distinctiveness using a multivariate extension of Mayr's Rule indicates that the taxonomy presented by Rahm ('70) is essentially correct, except that the subspecies of guereza across the northern part of Central Africa should be lumped into a single group ‐ C. g. occidentalis ‐and the subspecies of montane angolan colobus in Eastern Zaire should all be lumped into C. a. ruwenzorii . The systematic patterns of the genus illustrate the whole range of the process of speciation, from barely distinct subspecies, to subspecies almost as distinct as allopatric species of the genus, and on to fully sympatric species. Three major zoogeographic areas may be delineated: an East African area dominated by the effects of the Rift Valley, with a large number of subspecies isolated in forest islands; a Central African area with little subspeciation and sympatric overlap of the major species of Colobus; and a West African area with a clinial pattern of distribution of subspecies, and secondary intergradation. The arbitary nature of Mayr's Rule is also apparent. Lastly, the CVA indicated major differences across the genus to be located in the teeth and jaws, suggesting diet might be an important distinguishing feature in Colobus .