Blue Nile Patas Monkey
Erythrocebus poliophaeus (Reichenbach, 1862)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Patas Monkey in Giza Zoo
Hatem Moushir · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
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, it was synonymized with the common patas monkey (E. patas) in 1927. A 2017 study reclassified it as a distinct species.
Wikipedia contributors, Blue Nile patas monkey; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:30:33.005472+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Erythrocebus poliophaeus (Reichenbach, 1862)
- Name authority
- (Reichenbach, 1862)
- Common name
- Blue Nile Patas Monkey
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Primates
- Family
- Cercopithecidae
- Genus
- Erythrocebus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
- suborderHaplorrhini Pocock, 1918
- infraorderSimiiformes Haeckel, 1866
- superfamilyCercopithecoidea Gray, 1821
- familyCercopithecidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyCercopithecinae Gray, 1821
- tribeCercopithecini
- genusErythrocebus Trouessart, 1897
- speciesErythrocebus poliophaeus (Reichenbach, 1862)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Erythrocebus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Common Patas MonkeyErythrocebus patas (Schreber, 1774) | CercopithecidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Erythrocebus albigenus Elliot, 1909 Elliot, 1909 | synonym |
| Cercopithecus poliolophus Heuglin, 1877 Heuglin, 1877 | synonym |
| Cercopithecus poliophaeus Reichenbach, 1862 Reichenbach, 1862 | synonym |
| Cercopithecus poliophaeus Heuglin, 1877 Heuglin, 1877 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1063216 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3BDH6. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.