JUST ANOTHER PRETTY FACE

This is a male Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx). It looks baboonish but is its own species. It's an African Primate and Old World Monkey and is found in only a few places in Cameroon, Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. It is threatened primarily due to habitat loss and use as "bush meat."

Males can weigh up to 100+ pounds (54kg) with females weighing about half that. Sexual dimorphism has the males being particularly colorful...notice the "blue" muzzle and red stripe on this male's face. It is not a blue pigment (mammals are devoid of blue pigment) but rather is produced by structural coloration in much the same way as the colors are produced in peacock feathers....prism-like scattering of light. The more dominant the male, the brighter are his facial colorings.

Their diet consists of fruit, seeds, and plants but they will take small mammals and an occasional larger one which males can easily kill with a bite to the neck with their 2.5 in. (6.4 cm) canine teeth. They, in turn, are preyed upon by leopards and humans and are sometimes killed by venomous snakes.

Best in Large.