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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about mandrills. Don’t monkey around, be sure to subscribe! We’d like to thank Christian Chapu for today’s suggestion. Mandrills might just be some of the most colorful mammals on our planet. With their distinct red and blue faces as well as their purple rumps, it’s not difficult to distinguish a mandrill - even when they’re side by side with their relative the drill.

You might be thinking that mandrills look pretty similar to baboons with those rosy cheeks, and you wouldn’t be wrong! Until recently, mandrills were classified with baboons, but nowadays they’re in their own genus along with drills. Mandrills, drills, and baboons are all monkeys, though, and mandrills are the thought the be the largest monkeys in the world!

The mandrill’s fantastically colorful face is thought to be an indicator of social status in males and reproductive readiness in females. Mandrills live in troops that can contain anywhere from just a handful of members to somewhere around 1,000! The troop is headed by a large male who has breeding rights to the females of the group, though it’s typically the ladies who decide when and with whom they’ll mate. The big guy in charge usually has the brightest blues and reds, while subordinate males will appear more pale. The females are also typically less saturated, but studies indicate that older, more reproductively successful females may become brighter.

Mandrill mamas give birth to a pink-faced infant who stays with her until she gives birth to her next baby. Because mandrills live in groups, it’s thought that they likely help each other in raising the kids. Those big canine teeth might look menacing, but usually when a mandrill grins it’s to indicate friendliness. When we see it, it certainly doesn’t look like “Why, yes, I’d be happy to pull bugs out of your fur today.” But it is… probably. It takes four to nine years before mandrills are ready to have babies of their own. They may live to be twenty in the wild, and captive kept mandrills have been known to double that age!

In the wild, mandrills live in Africa near the equator. They live in forested areas which can become pretty dense, so, in order to keep in touch, mandrills will give out loud calls and shrieks. This is great for group communication, but not so great in keeping their location a secret. One of the biggest threats mandrills populations face today is hunting. Mandrill meat is considered a delicacy by some, and the mandrills make it pretty easy to locate them with all their wailing.

Mandrills themselves are likely an important part of the ecosystem as they dine on fruits and seeds along with insects, meaning they likely help with seed dispersal in their territories. They can pack their cheeks with food to carry on the go, too. In a single day, a mandrill troop might move a mile or more while foraging, and at night they find the best tree and snuggle up for some sleep.

Oh, and if you’re thinking these faces look familiar, but you just can’t put your finger on where you’ve seen them before, you might be surprised to learn that one of the most iconic “baboons” in animation history isn’t a baboon at all!

For more facts on mandrills, check out the links in the description. Like this video if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.