Erythrocebus Patas is a shy, elusive monkey living in savannas from Sengal to Ethiopia and south to Tanzania (Nowak 1991). The head and body length ranges from 600-875 millimeters and the tail length ranges from 500-750 millimeters (Nowak 1991). Adult males, however, weight nearly double the females ranging from 7-13 kilograms while the females range from 4-7 kilograms (Nowak 1991). The coloring of adults is usually reddish and white, with the adult males having often long and manelike hair on the nape and shoulders with a mustache and whiskers of white hairs (Nowak 1991). The young are almost entirely red. The limbs of the E. Patas are all almost equal length, being long and powerful with short hands and feet with rounded digits (Keienburg 1990). The limbs of this Old-World monkey are an adaptation to fast running (Keienburg 1990).

An Englishman named Hall has contributed much of current knowledge about the behavior and social grouping about the wild Patas in his research in Uganda (Bramblett 1976). He has found the fast running characteristic of the Patas is an adaptation to their environment. Although they sleep in trees at night and briefly during the day, the rest of their time is spent on the ground, in the savannas (Preston 1992). Since they live in an open area, they must be able to run fast since there are fewer trees to climb than in forests; these monkeys can reach speeds of 33 miles an hour within 3 seconds (Keienburg 1990)! However, the Patas is generally silent moving when the group is scattered and hardly visible through the high savanna grass (Keienburg 1990). The Patas has been seen assuming a bipedal posture when alarmed or when carrying food in the wild (Nicholls 1994). When approached by humans, the male leader will try to lead them away from the group that he is protecting.

The Patas has also been frequently seen playchasing, which can be related to mimicking emergency behavior (Symons 1978). For example, a male may hurl itself into a bush, catapult sideways and gallop off, imitating how he would be diverting predators in a real-life situation (Symons 1978). Hall has noted this playchasing as an adaptation for rehearsal (Symons 1978).

A day’s march can vary from .3 miles up to 9 miles depending on the abundance of food (Keienburg 1990). The diet of the wild Patas consists mainly of grass, seeds, berries, pods, and shelled fruits but they will not turn their noses from insects, eggs, lizards, and even small birds (Keienburg 1990). While searching for food during the day, the Patas will fan out over .3 miles from each other (Keienburg 1990). During the hottest parts of the day, the Patas group will rest together several hours in trees (Bramblett 1976). At night, when resting they are even more scattered, sleeping in small trees and bushes over 68 acres (Nowak 1991). This spreading out protects the group from severe losses due to predators. In the morning, the male will begin the cycle again by sitting on a termite bound or a bush and waits for the others to gather around (Bramblett 1976).

There are two types of social groups that the Patas organizes themselves into: first, the bisexual group and second, the male group (Bramblett 1976). The bisexual group consists of females, infants, juveniles, and one adult (Bramblett 1976). Group size ranges from 9-31 individuals with an average of about 15 individuals (Nowak 1991). Even though the male outweighs the female by far, the females are actually dominant and sometimes attack the male, keeping him at a distance (Nowak 1991). The group is controlled by the highest ranking female and the male is really only there to guard the group and protect the females and young in exchange for the reward of mating with the females. The male, however, does have power over the other males, and will drive out maturing males when there is a receptive female present in the group (Bramblett 1976).

The second type of group, the male group, is exactly that. Although not as common as the bisexual group, male groups consist of both former group leaders that were overthrown and adolescents that emigrated from their birth groups (Keienburg 1990). The relations in this group is fairly peaceful and friendly, unlike the bisexual group where males regard other males as major threats and react with hostility when met with them (Keienburg 1990). Relations between the groups are not well known, with groups usually avoiding each other. At watering holes, male groups have been seen to yield to bisexual groups (Keienburg1990). Also, in an observation by Struhsaker and Gartlan in April of 1967, when a jackal ran off with a young juvenile Patas from a heterosexual group, three males took off after the jackal, who later dropped the juvenile unharmed (Bramblett 1976). Although the observers couldn't tell which specific males took chase, it was obvious that at least two of the males did not belong to the same group as the youngster (Bramblett 1976).

Although it seems that much is known about the Patas monkey, it still seems that there is much to be discovered, as seen in the example of group relations between the heterosexual and all-male groups. This research is still unfinished, as it should be, and will probably continue for quite a bit of time. Overall, the Patas monkey is a shy animal, living in groups, either of the heterosexual group or all-male group, and lives a fairly simple existence of roaming the savannas, searching for the food that sustains them and helps them continue their daily roams. Hopefully, the reader is enlightened a little about the Patas and how it lives its day-to-day life in the savannas of Uganda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.

Bramblett, Claud A. 1976. [Patterns of Primate Behavior]. (Palo Alto: Mayfield Publishing Company).

Keienburg, Wolf 1990. [Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals, vol. 2]. (New Jersey: McGraw-Hill Inc).

[Nicholls, Phillip "Chris"/"Re: Bipedalism and Endurance"] 1994. 23 Nov, 1998.

Nowak, Ronald M. 1991. [Walker's Mammals of the World, ed. 5, vol. 1]. (London: Johns Hopkins University Press).

Preston, Ken and Rod Preston 1992. [Primates of the World]. (London: Blandford Publishing).

Symons, Donald 1978. [Play and Aggression: A Study of Rhesus Monkeys]. (New York: Columbia University Press).