Free Teacher Resources
A Schmidt's guenon with a white nose and a long reddish tail sitting in a leafy tree.
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Schmidt's Guenon

Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti

A colorful African monkey with a white nose and a chestnut-red tail, also called the red-tailed monkey, that stuffs its cheek pouches with food.

🐒 Monkeys
Checking teacher reviews…
Teacher? Sign in to review this page →Report a mistake

About the Schmidt's Guenon

Schmidt's guenons live in rainforests, forests, swamps and woodlands, usually near rivers, in eastern central Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Angola. They eat fruit and shoots, plus small animals like insects, lizards, frogs and eggs. Their cheek pouches can hold almost as much food as their stomachs, so they can grab food fast and eat it later somewhere safe.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti[1]
Size
12 to 24 inches long, plus a 21 to 35 inch tail.[1]
Weight
Males about 7 to 10 pounds. Females 7 to 8 pounds.[1]
Lifespan
About 20 years in the wild.[1]
Diet
Omnivore. Fruit, shoots and small animals.[1]
Habitat
Rainforests, forests, swamps and woodlands, usually near rivers.[1]
Where it lives
Eastern central Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Angola.[1]
Group life
Family groups of up to 50 with one dominant male.[1]
Babies
Pregnancy lasts about 135 to 200 days. Usually one baby.[1]
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, red-tailed monkey, assessed 2018).[2]

Fun facts

  • A guenon's cheek pouches hold almost as much food as its stomach.[1]
  • Different kinds of guenons can understand each other's alarm calls.[1]
  • Guenons make more than 20 different calls, including chirps and loud sneezes.[1]

Vocabulary

guenon
A kind of colorful African monkey with cheek pouches (say "GWEN-on").
cheek pouch
A stretchy pocket inside the cheek used to carry food.
alarm call
A sound an animal makes to warn others of danger.
omnivore
An animal that eats both plants and other animals.
subspecies
A group within a species that lives in a certain area and looks a little different from other groups.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] Zoo Atlanta. “Schmidt's Guenon.” https://zooatlanta.org/animal/schmidts-guenon/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Cercopithecus ascanius (Red-tailed Monkey).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4212/17947340 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

More Monkeys

An Angolan colobus monkey with black fur and long white shoulder fur sitting on a branch.Angolan Colobus MonkeyColobus angolensisA black-and-white leaf-eating monkey of central Africa with a long, bushy-tipped tail and babies that are born all white.A common marmoset with white ear tufts and a striped tail resting on a branch.Common MarmosetCallithrix jacchusA tiny tree-sap-eating monkey of northeastern Brazil with white ear tufts, usually born as twins.A male drill with dark fur and a colorful rump walking on the forest floor.DrillMandrillus leucophaeusAn endangered baboon relative of West-Central African rainforests whose males have a bright red chin and a mane.A bright orange golden lion tamarin perched on a branch.Golden Lion TamarinLeontopithecus rosaliaA tiny, bright-orange monkey with a lion-like mane that lives only in Brazil's Atlantic Coastal Forest.A Wolf's guenon with gray, orange and white fur standing on a log.Wolf's GuenonCercopithecus wolfiA gray, red-saddled African forest monkey named after the person who discovered it, not after wolves.