Mandrill

This male mandrill is a very colourful monkey, with its red nose, blue cheeks and yellow beard! It looks aggressive, but it’s actually very shy. In the dark jungle where these monkeys live, the bright colours are very useful for communicating with each other and with any enemies. They also make growling sounds. Did you know that the relief of the nose can be seen in the skull?

Mandrills live in groups of around 20 individuals, which can sometimes grow to become troops of over 200. As a result of the destruction of the jungle and hunting, however, mandrills are very much in decline.

This monkey is from the Cabinet of Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858). He was the founder and first director of the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden,