NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Highland Mangabey
Rungwecebus kipunji (Ehardt, Butynski, Jones & Davenport in Jones, Ehardt, Butynski, Davenport, Mpunga et al., 2005)
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.
Full-body view of Lophocebus kipunji (Ehardt et al. 2005 sp. nov.). Note the animal's long fur, coat color, lighter area on chest and distal tail and characteristic tail carriage. The artist's reconstruction was drawn from research video taken by C. L. Ehardt in Tanzania in the Ndundulu Forest of the Udzungwa Mountains and in the Southern Highlands.
Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji), also known as the highland mangabey, is a species of Old World monkey that lives in the highland forests of Tanzania. It was independently described in December 2003 and July 2004, making it the first new African monkey species discovered since 1984. Originally assigned to the genus Lophocebus, genetic and morphological data showed that it is more closely related to the genus Papio. It was subsequently assigned to a new genus, Rungwecebus, named after Mount Rungwe. Rungwecebus is the first new monkey genus described since 1923.
Wikipedia contributors, Kipunji; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:02:41.584609+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Rungwecebus kipunji (Ehardt, Butynski, Jones & Davenport in Jones, Ehardt, Butynski, Davenport, Mpunga et al., 2005)
- Name authority
- (Ehardt, Butynski, Jones & Davenport in Jones, Ehardt, Butynski, Davenport, Mpunga et al., 2005)
- Common name
- Highland Mangabey
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Primates
- Family
- Cercopithecidae
- Genus
- Rungwecebus
- 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
- subfamilyCercopithecinae Gray, 1821
- tribePapionini
- genusRungwecebus Davenport, Stanley, Stargis, De Luca, Mpunga, Machaga & Olson, 2006
- speciesRungwecebus kipunji (Ehardt, Butynski, Jones & Davenport in Jones, Ehardt, Butynski, Davenport, Mpunga et al., 2005)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Lophocebus kipunji Ehardt, Butynski, Jones & Davenport in Jones, Ehardt, Butynski, Davenport, Mpunga et al., 2005 Ehardt, Butynski, Jones & Davenport in Jones, Ehardt, Butynski, Davenport, Mpunga et al., 2005 | synonym |
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.
- Jones, Ehardt, Butynski, Davenport, Mpunga et al., 2005) 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.
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:4TQGL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.