''Erythrocebus'' is a genus of
Old World monkey. All three species in this genus are found in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, and are known as patas monkeys. While previously considered a
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
genus containing just ''E. patas'', a 2017 review argued that, based on morphological evidence and heavy geographic separation between taxa, ''E. patas'' should be split back into distinct species as recognised in the 19th century.
There are three species recognized:
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Southern patas monkey
The southern patas monkey (''Erythrocebus baumstarki'') is a critically endangered species of Old World monkey found only in Tanzania, and formerly in Kenya. It may be the most endangered primate in Africa known to still be extant, with only 100 ...
(''Erythrocebus baumstarki'')
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Common patas monkey
The common 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.
Taxonomy
There is some confusion surrounding ...
(''Erythrocebus patas'')
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Blue Nile patas monkey
The Blue Nile patas monkey (''Erythrocebus poliophaeus'') or Heuglin's patas monkey is a species of Old World monkey found in Africa along the Blue Nile river valley in Ethiopia, Sudan, and potentially South Sudan. While first described in 1862, ...
(''Erythrocebus poliophaeus'')
References
Mammals of Sub-Saharan Africa
Taxa named by Édouard Louis Trouessart
Taxa described in 1897
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