Patas

If I go to jail for killing someone working at our internet provider's company, I apologize for disappearing on you again for that. Hopefully it won't. Since I'm 15 miles away from anywhere with decent internet that I can hang out and use, that makes things a bit hard sometimes. I'll try to catch up quickly though, if the internet allows. 

But, on with the monkey kittens. Then I'll try to figure out what to name the others, so I can tell you about them and what they got named after. 

Today, it's Patas. 

Sorry, I mean, it's Patas.

Pictures of monkeys from the New England Primate Conservancy link below. 

Pictures of kittens are from me and absolutely adorable. 

So, Patas Monkeys are also called several other things, including Dancing Red Monkey, Military Monkey, Hussar Monkey, and a few others. Patas comes from an African language, meaning 'tailless'. Military Monkey, on the other hand, comes from their red coats and white mustaches. 

Unlike the New World monkeys, these guys live in Africa, primarily in grasslands. There are three subspecies of Patas-- East, West, and Aïr, named after the regions they live in, to the East, West, and the Aïr Massif in between. There's also a pocket of Patas Monkeys that were introduced in Puerto Rico. 

Patas Monkeys live in groups of one male and their harem of females. If a predator gets too close to the group, the male will puff up and draw attention, then scram, so the females are safe. For that, I think they deserve some credit. It makes sense that they would plan for something like that though, considering that they are the fastest primates on the planet, running up to 35 miles an hour. That's not quite highway speed, but it's pretty close. It's also fast enough that sometimes they get mistaken for cheetahs. 

So, I think that a monkey that can be mistaken for a big kitty is an ok name for a little kitty. Don't you think? 

Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow to tell you more about another monkey-kitty. Have fun until then. 

Sources:

Encyclopedia Britannica-- Patas Monkeys

New England Primate Conservancy-- Patas Monkeys

Animal Diversity Web-- Patas Monkeys

A-Z Animals-- Patas

Southwick Zoo-- Patas Monkey

Animalia-- Patas Monkey

Rosamond Gifford Zoo-- Patas Monkey

San Diego Zoo Fact Sheets-- Patas