The patas monkey also known as the Wadi monkey or Hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey

Monkey

A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...

 distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

, and into East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

. It is the only species

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 classified in the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Erythrocebus. Recent phylogenetic evidence indicates that it is the closest relative of the vervet monkey

Vervet Monkey

The vervet monkey , or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus Chlorocebus....

 (Cercopithecus aethiops), suggesting nomenclatural revision.

Appearance

The patas monkey grows to 85 cm (33.5 in) in length, excluding the tail, which measures 75 cm (29.5 in). Adult males are considerably larger than adult females. Reaching speed

Speed

In kinematics, the speed of an object is the magnitude of its velocity ; it is thus a scalar quantity. The average speed of an object in an interval of time is the distance traveled by the object divided by the duration of the interval; the instantaneous speed is the limit of the average speed as...

s of 55 km/h (34.2 mph), it is the fastest runner among the primate

Primate

A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...

s.

Behavior

The patas monkey lives in multi-female groups of up to 60 individuals (although much larger aggregations have been reported). There is a weak dominance rank. The group contains just one adult male for most of the year. During the breeding season, there are multi-male influxes into the group. Once juvenile males reach sexual maturity

Sexual maturity

Sexual maturity is the age or stage when an organism can reproduce. It is sometimes considered synonymous with adulthood, though the two are distinct...

 (around the age of 4 years old) they leave the group, usually joining all-male groups. The adult females in the group initiate movement of the group with the male following their lead.

The patas monkey avoids dense woodlands and lives in more open savanna and semi-deserts. The patas monkey has a remarkably high reproductive rate, perhaps as an evolutionary response to the high adult mortality rates associated with this strongly terrestrial lifestyle.

Diet

The patas monkey feeds on insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s, gum, seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s, and tubers

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

, a diet more characteristic of much smaller primates.

Classification

There is some confusion surrounding the number of valid subspecies, with some listing four, and others listing two; the western Erythrocebus patas patas (Common Patas; with a black nose) and the eastern Erythrocebus patas pyrrhonotus (Nisnas; with a white nose). Others, however, have suggested that at least some of the features used to separate these subspecies merely are variations in the female's facial pattern during pregnancy. On the other hand, the change in the nose during pregnancy occurs only in the West African populations.

External links

• Primate Info Net Erythrocebus patas Factsheet