- Patas Monkey
Taxobox
name = Patas MonkeyMSW3 Groves | pages = 160]
status = LC
status_system = iucn3.1
status_ref = IUCN2006|assessors=Butynski "et al"|year=2000|id=8073|title=Erythrocebus patas|downloaded=12 May 2006]
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
ordo =Primate s
familia =Cercopithecidae
genus = "Erythrocebus"
genus_authority = Trouessart, 1897
species = "E. patas"
binomial = "Erythrocebus patas"
binomial_authority = Schreber, 1775The Patas Monkey ("Erythrocebus patas") is a ground-dwelling
monkey distributed overWest Africa , and intoEast Africa . It is the onlyspecies classified in thegenus "Erythrocebus". The Patas Monkey avoids dense woodlands and lives in more open savanna and semi-deserts. The Patas Monkey grows to 85 cm in length, excluding the tail, which measures 75 cm. Reachingspeed s of 55 km/h, it is the fastest runner among theprimates .This monkey lives in groups of about twelve individuals. There is a loose matrilineal 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 (around the age of 4 years old) they leave the group, usually joining all the all-male groups. Patas monkeys feed on
insect s, gum,seed s, and tubers.There is some confusion surrounding the number of valid subspecies, with some listing four,cite book |author=Kingdon, J. |year=1997 |title=The Kingdon Guide to African Mammals |pages=57-58|publisher=Academic Press Limited, London |isbn=0-12-408355-2] 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, and therefore tentatively consider this species
monotypic .References
External links
* [http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/patas_monkey Primate Info Net "Erythrocebus patas" Factsheet]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.