William Henry Flower and Richard Lydekker

“ The hands and feet are naked, and black. A large space around the greatly developed callosities on the buttocks, as well as the upper part of the insides of the thighs, is naked and of a crimson colour, shading off on the sides to lilac or blue, which, depending upon injection of the superficial blood-vessels, varies in intensity according to the condition of the animal—increasing under excitement, fading during sickness, and disappearing after death. ”

“ The cheek-prominences are of an intense blue, the effect of which is heightened by deeply sunk longitudinal furrows of a darker tint, while the central line and termination of the nose are bright scarlet. It is only to fully adult males that this description applies. The female is of much smaller size, and more slender; and, though the general tone of the hairy parts of the body is the same, the prominences, furrows, and colouring of the face are much less marked. The young males have black faces. ”

“ Old males are remarkable for the ferocity of their disposition, as well as for other disagreeable qualities; but when young they can easily be tamed. Like baboons, mandrills appear to be indiscriminate eaters, feeding on fruit, roots, reptiles, insects, scorpions, &c., and inhabit open rocky ground rather than forests. Not much is known of the mandrill’s habits in the wild state, nor of the exact limits of its geographical distribution ”