patas monkey

▪ primate

      long-limbed and predominantly ground-dwelling primate found in the grass and scrub regions of West and Central Africa and southeast to the Serengeti plains.

      The adult male patas monkey has shaggy fur set off by a white mustache and white underparts, and its build is like that of a greyhound; the female has a similar but less-striking pattern and build. It is about 50–70 cm (20–28 inches) long, excluding the tail of about the same length. Males average 12.5 kg (27.5 pounds), the female only 6.5 kg. Omnivorous and quadrupedal, it generally lives in troops consisting of a single male with up to half a dozen females and their young; the dominant female leads the troop, the male being peripheral. Upon sighting a predator such as a cheetah, the male makes himself conspicuous, finally running off at high speed and drawing the predator away from the females and young hiding in nearby long grass. Small bachelor male troops constantly try to invade breeding troops and mate with the females or oust the troop male. Single births occur during the wet season after a gestation period estimated at five to six months. The young develop quickly, with females maturing at three years and males at four—a shorter period of immaturity than observed in many smaller monkeys.

      The patas monkey is an Old World monkey (family Cercopithecidae) related to guenons (guenon). Because of its colour, white facial marking, and habits, it has also been called the hussar, military, or dancing red monkey, as well as the red guenon.

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