Cercocebus fossil map
Where fossils of Cercocebus have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 11.63–0.0117 million years ago (Tortonian to Late Pleistocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Cercopithecidae |
| Named by | Geoffroy 1812 |
| Fossil records | 22 occurrences at 10 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia |
| Rock formations | Koobi Fora, Lothagam 1, txn:40860, Sagantole, Nawata and Nachukui |
About Cercocebus
The white-eyelid mangabeys are African Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Cercocebus. They are characterized by their bare upper eyelids, which are lighter than their facial skin colouring, and the uniformly coloured hairs of the fur. The other two genera of mangabeys, Lophocebus and Rungwecebus, were once thought to be very closely related to Cercocebus, so much so that all the species were placed in one genus, but Lophocebus and Rungwecebus species are now understood to be more closely related to the baboons in genus Papio, while the Cercocebus species are more closely related to the mandrill.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article White-eyelid mangabey (revision 1336806013), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q1070855.
