Here is a male patas monkey showing off his bright colours

Today I want to write about an amazing species of primate, the patas monkey.

Here are five interesting facts about them:

1. These beautiful monkeys grow up to 90 cm tall.  The males are much larger than females and are much more brightly coloured.
2. Patas monkeys spend most of their time on the ground and use their long powerful legs run up to 55 kph, making them the fastest primate in the world.
3. They live in large groups of up to 60, mostly made up of females and one male, although other males join the group during the breeding season.  They are very alert and have different calls for different predators.
4. They are omnivores, mainly eating fruit, gum, leaves, birds eggs, small reptiles, insects and crops.
5. Patas monkeys are very common and can be found in dry areas throughout western and eastern Africa.  They are one of the few species of primate that has benefited from deforestation as they prefer to live in open areas.

I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.

Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about patas monkeys?