Editing Common patas monkey (section)

== Taxonomy ==
There is some confusion surrounding if there are valid subspecies, with some listing four,{{sfn|Kingdon|1997|pp=57–58}} others three,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=LibGuides: Patas Monkey (''Erythrocebus patas'') Fact Sheet: Physical Characteristics|url=http://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/patasmonkey/characteristics-page|last=Autin|first=Beth|website=ielc.libguides.com|language=en|access-date=2020-05-28}}</ref> and others listing two: the western ''Erythrocebus patas patas'' (with a black nose) and the eastern ''E. patas pyrrhonotus'' (with a white nose). However, it was later discovered that the nose colour used to separate these subspecies could change to white during pregnancy in females, as well as in general as animals aged, and ''E. patas pyrrhonotus'' in Kenya often did not have white noses,<ref name=msw3/><ref name="Gippoliti2017"/> thus ''[[Mammal Species of the World]]'' has classified ''E. patas'' as a [[monotypic]] species.<ref name=msw3/>

The genus status of the species has previously been in flux. [[Colin Groves]] first argued the species was closely related to ''[[Cercopithecus aethiops]]'' in 1989, based on anatomical [[Morphology (anatomy)|morphology]]. [[Phylogenetic]] evidence from 2003 appeared to validate him, finding the patas monkey to form a [[clade]] within the vervet genus ''[[Cercopithecus]]'' together with ''C. aethiops'' and [[Cercopithecus lhoesti|''C. lhoesti'']], and based on this study ''Erythrocebus'' was proposed to be sunk into synonymy with ''Cercopithecus''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tosi |first1=Anthony J. |last2=Disotell |first2=Todd R. |last3=Carlos Morales |first3=Juan |last4=Melnick |first4=Don J. |date=June 2003 |title=Cercopithecine Y-chromosome data provide a test of competing morphological evolutionary hypotheses |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=510–521 |doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00024-1|pmid=12742755 |bibcode=2003MolPE..27..510T }}</ref> However, more recent studies have found this interpretation of ''Cercopithecus'' to be paraphyletic, and thus many species in ''Cercopithecus'' have since been reclassified to numerous new genera and species, with ''C. aethiops'' moved to ''[[Chlorocebus]]'' and ''C. lhoesti'' to ''[[Allochrocebus]]''. ''Erythrocebus'' is thus now thought to be a distinct genus.

''[[Erythrocebus]]'' was previously thought to be a [[Monotypic taxon|monotypic genus]] containing only ''E. patas''. However, a 2017 study proposed splitting ''E. patas'' into three species (''E. patas [[Sensu|sensu stricto]]'', ''[[Blue Nile patas monkey|E. poliphaeus]]'', and ''[[Southern patas monkey|E. baumstarki]]'') based on morphological differences and heavy geographic separation between taxa, with the [[IUCN Red List]] and [[American Society of Mammalogists]] following through with this.<ref name="Gippoliti2017">{{cite journal|last1=Gippoliti|first1=Spartaco|date=2017|title=On the Taxonomy of ''Erythrocebus'' with a Re-evaluation of ''Erythrocebus poliophaeus'' (Reichenbach, 1862) from the Blue Nile Region of Sudan and Ethiopia|url=http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/1200343/27795196/1515432572007/PC31_Gippoliti_Patas_Ethiopia.pdf?token=cIj1jDNWn0VX8tn2QOizgCoV2W8%3D|journal=Primate Conservation|volume=31|pages=53–59|issn=2162-4232|access-date=17 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="iucn"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=ITIS - Report: Erythrocebus|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=572823#null|access-date=2021-11-12|website=www.itis.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Database|first=Mammal Diversity|title=Mammal Diversity Database|date=2021-11-06|doi=10.5281/zenodo.5651212 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/5651212|access-date=2021-11-12}}</ref>