Daily Zoo Animal: #22, Mandrill (female)

Mandrill Mandrillus sphinx

The mandrill is a heavy West African monkey distinguished by a marked sexual dimorphism. Males are twice as large as females weighing up to 100 pounds, but averaging around fifty. Males have red, white, and blue markings on their faces, and both sexes have bare colorful rear-ends. The live in tropical rainforest habitats, feeding mostly on the ground and climbing into trees to sleep. Males defend a harem of several females, who may be sexually receptive for a short time every other year. Mandrills can live for than 40 years.

This is Mandy, the female that lives in the Tropical Forest exhibit at Franklin Park Zoo. Her mate Charlie was in holding while she was eating when this picture was taken (I'll try to get a good shot of Charlie--he's a very impressive animal--but it's difficult under low light; he is usually grinning and shrugging, gestures that indicate he is content, but they make pictures blurry).

On this day in 365 Urban Species: Heart-leaf aster, a sign of autumn which this year started blooming a month ago. Strangely, last year no one commented on this entry. How many cats does a guy have to eat to start a conversation?