NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Zanzibar Red Colobus
Piliocolobus kirkii (Gray, 1868)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Zanzibar red colobus (Piliocolobus kirkii) is a species of red colobus monkey endemic to Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania. It is also known as Kirk's red colobus after Sir John Kirk, the British Resident of Zanzibar who first brought it to the attention of zoological science. It is now classified as an endangered species and in the mid-1990s was adopted as the flagship species for conservation in Zanzibar. The population is still decreasing, and conservationists are attempting to work with the local government to devise a proper, effective strategy to protect the population and habitat. Challenges include the species' habitat, which is limited to the archipelago. The species has been reclassified three times; it was previously in the genus Colobus, then in the genus Procolobus, and later in the genus Piliocolobus.
Wikipedia contributors, Zanzibar red colobus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:45:34.948859+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Piliocolobus kirkii (Gray, 1868)
- Name authority
- (Gray, 1868)
- Common name
- Zanzibar Red Colobus
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Primates
- Family
- Cercopithecidae
- Genus
- Piliocolobus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
- suborderHaplorrhini Pocock, 1918
- infraorderSimiiformes Haeckel, 1866
- superfamilyCercopithecoidea Gray, 1821
- familyCercopithecidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyColobinae Jerdon, 1867
- tribeColobini Jerdon, 1867
- genusPiliocolobus Rochebrune, 1877
- speciesPiliocolobus kirkii (Gray, 1868)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Piliocolobus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Upper Guinea Red ColobusPiliocolobus badius (Kerr, 1792) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Central African Red ColobusPiliocolobus foai (de Pousargues, 1899) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Udzungwa Red ColobusPiliocolobus gordonorum (Matschie, 1900) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lang's Red ColobusPiliocolobus langi (J. A. Allen, 1925) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ulindi River Red ColobusPiliocolobus lulindicus Matschie, 1914 | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Oustalet's Red ColobusPiliocolobus oustaleti (Trouessart, 1906) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Preuss's Red ColobusPiliocolobus preussi Matschie, 1900 | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Semliki Red ColobusPiliocolobus semlikiensis (Colyn, 1991) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ashy Red ColobusPiliocolobus tephrosceles (Elliot, 1907) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Thollon's Red ColobusPiliocolobus tholloni A. Milne-Edwards, 1886 | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Miss Waldron's Red ColobusPiliocolobus waldronae (Hayman, 1936) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lomami Red ColobusPiliocolobus parmentieri (Colyn & Verheyen, 1987) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=944233 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4HTQQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.