Colobine monkeys 'could be wiped out by global warming'

Species of primates including colobine monkeys are in danger of being wiped out by global warming, scientists have warned.

Matthew Moore, The Telegraph 20 Dec 09;

A new study suggests that some of mankind's evolutionary near-neighbours may not survive if temperatures around the world rise by just 2C.

Among the animals most at risk to climate change are gorillas of which there are only 50,000 left in the wild, according to research by British scientists published online in the journal Animal Behaviour.

Leaf-eating African monkey species like the colobines are on the danger list because the habitats in which they can secure food are so restricted, being confined to a narrow region of the equator.

Monkeys in South America are much less likely to be affected by a rise of 2C in average global temperature. However, they would not be spared if temperatures rose by 4C, causing their habitats to become fragmented.

The researchers coupled climate models with an analysis of behaviour, diet and group size of different primate species across the world.

Fruit-eating species such as the baboons and guenon monkeys of Africa typically have a much wider latitudinal range and could cope with more variable climatic conditions.

Professor Robin Dunbar, of the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford University, who coauthored the study, said that more must be done to replace habitats threatened by global warming.

"We often worry about deforestation and hunting as the two main factors threatening the extinction of primate populations, but these results suggest that even if we find ways to solve these problems, it may not save some species of monkeys and apes from extinction," he said.