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Genus of Old World monkeys

Black and white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus Colobus, native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus Piliocolobus. Individuals spend approximately 150 minutes actively feeding each day.

Colobuses live in territorial groups that vary in both size (3 15 individuals) and structure. It was originally believed that the structure of these groups consisted of one male and about 8 female members. However, more recent observations have shown variation in structure and the number of males within groups, with one species forming multi male, multifemale groups in a multilevel society, and in some populations supergroups form exceeding 500 individuals. Colobuses do not display any type of seasonal breeding patterns. As suggested by their name, adult colobi have black fur with white features. White fur surrounds their facial region and a "U" shape of long white fur runs along the sides of their body. Newborn colobi are completely white with a pink face. Cases of allomothering are documented, which means members of the troop other than the infant's biological mother care for it. Possible explanations to this are, increasing inclusive fitness or maternal practice which will benefit future offspring.

Many members participate in a greeting ritual when they are reunited with familiar individuals, an act of reaffirming. Groups seem to regularly switch up sleeping locations (suggested due to reducing risk of parasites and placement prediction) and generally do not sleep near other groups. They also tend to sleep more tightly together on nights with great visibility. There are no clear difference in vigilance between male and females. However, there is a positive correlation between mean monthly vigilance and encounter rates.