text: is the social structure of colobus monkeys related to their environment?   as with most primates, yes. i'm not too familiar with their "social" structure... but i can try and give a few examples, but i suggest you check them out first because i'm doing this all from memory. colobus monkeys are primarily fruit and leaf-eaters. because they live in environments with lots of trees, and because they are small, there is very limited competition between the monkeys. therefore, they can live in very large groups. they share land with chimps (pan troglodytes i think... i don't know about pan paniscus), who hunt them. their large group sizes aids in protecting them because they have more of a chance of being able to see the chimps and warn the others before they are attacked.