Wildlife
Patas monkeys are considered the fastest primate on Earth. With slender bodies and long limbs they can achieve top speeds of 55km/h whereas the finest Olympic 100 metre champions can only manage 36-37km/h. These bursts of speed are essential for a life spent on the ground and are used to evade predators such as lions and hyenas.
For most of the year a single adult male lives with a harem of up to 40 females but social structure changes during the breeding season when he is joined by other males. Unlike most primates, patas monkeys generally avoid dense woodland, preferring the open savannah and semi-deserts found across central Africa from below the Sahara in the north to above the rainforests of the south.
In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.
The gecko, the monkey, the ant and the giraffe
Discover how monkeys, ants and giraffes all play a part in creating the perfect home for a dwarf geckos.
Kenya’s ‘whistling acacias’ are so-called because they make a whistling sound as the wind blows over hollow galls at the bases of their thorns. These galls are formed by the trees as a response mechanism to attack by large herbivores. Ants set up home in the galls and they will viciously defend their territory, even against giraffes, which they attack with a poisonous spray keeping the animals away and protecting the trees. But the ants are good news for patas monkeys which love to break open the galls and eat the ants. And that’s good news for the dwarf gecko, which likes to make its home in the broken galls.
Ground monkeys
Just like our ancestors, patas monkeys have adapted to life out of the trees.
Just like our ancestors, patas monkeys have adapted to life out of the trees.
The Patas monkey can be found in a number of locations including: Africa. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Patas monkey distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Population trend: Decreasing
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas), also known as the Wadi monkey or Hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa. It is the only species classified in the genus Erythrocebus. Recent phylogenetic evidence[citation needed] indicates that it is the closest relative of the vervet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops), suggesting nomenclatural revision.[verification needed]
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. For more information on our use of Wikipedia please read our FAQ.
Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.
African Wildlife
Sir David Attenborough's Africa series took over four years to make and has brought us eye to eye with the continent's incredible wildlife in spectacular ways.
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Acoustic communication
Maternal care
Nomadic
Polygynandrous
Polygynous
Social
Adapted to running
Chemical communication
Sexual dimorphism
Territorial
Visual communication
Viviparous