The monkey with a giant drooping nose that works like a megaphone
This monkey grows a huge drooping nose that works like a built-in megaphone.
Which one is REALLY true about the Proboscis Monkey?
The short version
The proboscis monkey of Borneo grows a huge pendulous nose up to seven inches long, which amplifies its honking calls to impress females. Its enormous potbelly holds a chambered, cow-like stomach full of leaf-fermenting bacteria — so specialized that ripe fruit can make it dangerously ill. It's also a superb swimmer with webbed feet.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Proboscis Monkey grows a huge drooping nose that can reach seven inches long on a full-grown male.
- ✓The Proboscis Monkey uses that nose like a megaphone, amplifying his honking calls so they carry across the forest and impress the females.
- ✓The Proboscis Monkey carries an enormous potbelly, because its stomach is chambered like a cow's and full of bacteria that ferment tough leaves.
- ✓The Proboscis Monkey has a gut so specialised that ripe fruit can actually make it dangerously ill.
- ✓The Proboscis Monkey is a superb swimmer with webbed feet, despite all that bulk.
You could line up about 2 of them along a 7-year-old!
The full story
This monkey has one of the strangest faces in the entire animal kingdom, and the bigger the nose, the better. Meet the proboscis monkey, which lives only in the mangrove swamps and riverside forests of Borneo. A grown male grows a huge, drooping nose that can reach seven inches long. It works like a megaphone, amplifying his honking calls so they carry across the forest and impress the females. He also carries an enormous potbelly, because his stomach is chambered like a cow's and full of bacteria that ferment tough leaves. That gut is so specialized that ripe fruit can actually make him dangerously ill. And despite all that bulk, these monkeys are superb swimmers with webbed feet, and they live in loud, squabbling groups beside the water. Follow for more weird animal facts.
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“The Proboscis Monkey grows a huge drooping nose that can reach seven inches long on a full-grown male.”
“The Proboscis Monkey is a small round marsupial about the size of a cat, living on a few islands off Western Australia.”
“The Proboscis Monkey uses that nose like a megaphone, amplifying his honking calls so they carry across the forest and impress the females.”