Difference Between Mandrill and Baboon

Mandrill vs Baboon
 

Mandrill and baboon are two of the most interesting primates of Africa, and many people get them wrong even when they get to see these animals. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of these incredible animals would always be important. It would be beneficial for even an educated person to read about animals, especially about these interesting creatures. This article provides a comparison with summarized descriptions based on both mandrill and baboon.

Mandrill

Mandrill, Mandrillus sphinx, is a unique primate with a specific appearance among all the primates. They have a confined natural distribution around some of the Western African countries including Cameroon, Gabon, and Congo. Mandrill is an old world monkey and the largest of all the monkeys. It is the most colourful primate with the very rare blue being present in them. There are no hairs on their face, but two blue colour ridges are present on the either side of their elongated muzzle. Mandrill has red colour lips and nostrils, and around which the beard is yellowish. The coat of fur is long, prominent, and olive green color with yellow and black colour bands. One of the most interesting and prominent features of mandrill is the multi coloured hairless vent. In fact, their vent is mainly blue in colour with pink, scarlet, and purple are also there. Male mandrills are large as twice as the females. They live a terrestrial life in tropical rainforests as well as in savannah grasslands. However, they spend a considerable time on trees, as well. Mandrills are diurnal omnivores living in large groups that are called hordes. These unique animals can live about 20 – 25 years in wild and up to 30 years in captivity.

Baboon

Baboons are old world monkeys, and there are five different species described under one genus, Papio. They have a present day natural distribution through African and Arabian habitats. Formerly, gelada, drill, and mandrills were also classified as baboons, but later they were grouped separately from baboons. However, some people still refer those animals as baboons, but not in the scientific literature. They have a long snout, which looks almost like a muzzle of a dog. Except on their long muzzle and buttocks, there is a heavy growth of thick fur. Baboons have powerful jaws equipped with large canines, which aid for their omnivorous feeding habits. They can be either nocturnal or diurnal according to the available local niche in the living ecosystem. Usually, savannah grasslands are their habitats, and they are terrestrial but not arboreal as many other primates. Baboons have very close-set eyes that enable them to have a wide range of binocular vision. The bodyweight of baboons vary from 14 to 40 kilograms, and the smallest Guinea baboon is only half a metre size but the Chacma baboon is around 1.2 metres large. These animals are extremely protective of their offspring as they chase down the predators through intimidating displays. They have hierarchically organized troops containing varying number of members from five to 250.