Blue Nile patas monkey

Lesserwell-documentedmodern zoological and conservation scienceBlue Nile river valley (Ethiopia)Sudanpotentially South Sudanarea between the Nile and the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley (vicinity of Metemma south to the Sudd)

The Blue Nile patas monkey (Erythrocebus poliophaeus), also called Heuglin's patas monkey, is an Old World monkey species native to the Blue Nile river valley of Ethiopia and Sudan and possibly South Sudan. Described in 1862, it was long treated as conspecific with other patas monkeys until re-elevation to species status in 2017; its distribution, ecology, and population status remain poorly known.

Origin

This taxon was formally described in 1862 by Reichenbach (originally placed in Cercopithecus) from material associated with Fazogli/Fazughli and a skin reportedly from the vicinity of the White Nile received by Theodor von Heuglin. Subsequent 20th-century treatments (notably Schwartz, 1927) subsumed it within a broader single-species concept of patas monkeys. In 2017 Spartaco Gippoliti published a re-evaluation that resurrected Erythrocebus poliophaeus as a distinct species based on diagnostic morphology and geographic separation; that reassessment has been followed by major mammal databases and the IUCN in recognizing the taxon as distinct.

Appearance

Sources consistently note a distinctive facial pattern: white hairs on the upper lip forming a handlebar moustache‑like shape, and absence of the dark band between ear and eye characteristic of other Erythrocebus taxa. Beyond these diagnostic facial characters the supplied sources summarize it as an Old World monkey of genus Erythrocebus but do not provide comprehensive additional morphological detail; museum and field records are limited.

Abilities

The provided sources are taxonomic and conservation‑oriented and do not attribute supernatural abilities or exceptional powers. Ethological and ecological details (diet, social structure, vocal behavior, reproduction) specific to E. poliophaeus are not documented in the supplied materials, and the sources caution that such information is lacking rather than reported.

Weaknesses & Wards

Weaknesses

  • other
    data deficiency and vulnerability to human activities (habitat conversion, villagization, agricultural expansion, illegal wildlife trade) as potential threats

Wards

None recorded.

Community Record

Sources
  1. [1]
    Blue Nile patas monkey. Wikipedia: Blue Nile patas monkeywiki
  2. [2]
    Erythrocebus poliophaeus • Blue Nile Patas Monkey. Mammal Diversity Database: Erythrocebus poliophaeusacademic
  3. [3]
    On the Taxonomy of Erythrocebus with A Re-evaluation of Erythrocebus poliophaeus. Novataxa summary of Spartaco Gippoliti (2017) taxonomic re-evaluationother
  4. [4]
    Blue Nile Patas Monkey Characteristics | Erythrocebus Poliophaeus Facts. BioExplorer: Blue Nile patas monkey profileother
well-documented