MANDRILL (a name formed by the prefix " man " to the word " drill," which was used in ancient literature to denote an ape, and is probably of West African origin)

This article appears in Volume V17, Page 566 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MAL-MAR

MANDRILL (a name formed by the prefix " man " to the word " drill," which was used in ancient literature to denote an ape, and is probably of West African origin) , the common title of the most hideous and most brilliantly coloured of all the African monkeys collectively denominated baboons and constituting the genus Papio. Together with the

drill

DRILL

(q.v.), the mandrill, Papio maimon, constitutes the subgenus Maimon, which is exclusively West African in distribution, and characterized, among other peculiarities, by the extreme shortness of the tail, and the

great

GREAT

development of the longitudinal bony swellings, covered during life with naked skin, on the sides of the muzzle. As a whole, the mandrill is characterized by heaviness of

body

BODY

, stoutness and strength of limb, and exceeding shortness of tail, which is a mere stump, not 2 in. long; and usually carried erect. It is, moreover, remarkable for the prominence of its brow-ridges, beneath which the small and closely approximated eyes are deeply sunk; the immense size of the canine teeth; and more especially for the extraordinarilyvivid colouring of some parts of the skin. The

body

BODY

generally is covered with soft hairlight olive-brown above and silvery grey beneathand the chin is furnished underneath with a small pointed yellow beard. The

hair

HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

of the forehead and temples is directed upwards so as to meet in a point on the crown, which gives the head a triangular

appearance

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

. The ears are naked, and bluish black. The hands and feet are naked, and black. A large space around the greatly developed callosities on the buttocks, as well as the upper part of the insides of the thighs, is naked and of a crimson colour, shading off on the sides to

lilac

LILAC

or blue, which, depending upon injection of the superficial blood-vessels, varies in intensity according to the condition of the animalincreasing under excitement, fading during sickness, and disappearing after death. It is, however, in the face that the most remarkable disposition of vivid hues occurs, more resembling those of a brilliantly coloured flower than what might be expected in a mammal. The cheek-prominences are of an intense blue, the effect of which is heightened by deeply sunk longitudinal furrows of a darker tint, while the central line and termination of the nose are

bright

BRIGHT, JOHN (1811-188g)
BRIGHT, SIR CHARLES TILSTON

scarlet. It is only to fully adult males that this description applies. The female is of much smaller size, and more slender; and, though the general tone of the hairy parts of the body is the same, the prominences, furrows, and colouring of the face are much less marked. The

young

males have black faces.
Old males are remarkable for the ferocity of their disposition, as well as for other disagreeable qualities; but when

young

they can easily be tamed. Like baboons, mandrills appear to be indiscriminate eaters, feeding on fruit, roots, reptiles, insects, scorpions, &c., and inhabit open rocky ground rather than forests. Not much is known of the mandrill's habits in the wild state, nor of the exact limits of its geographical distribution; the specimens brought to Europe coming from the west coast of tropical Africa, from

Guinea

GUINEA

to the Gaboon. (See also

End of Article: MANDRILL (a name formed by the prefix " man " to the word " drill," which was used in ancient literature to denote an ape, and is probably of West African origin)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/MAL_MAR/MANDRILL_a_name_formed_by_the_.html">
MANDRILL (a name formed by the prefix " man " t...
</a>

(Previous)
MANDRAKE (Mandragora officinarum)

(Next)
MANDU

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email