Editing Vervet monkey (section)

== Taxonomy ==

The vervet monkey was previously classified as ''Cercopithecus aethiops'', now renamed '[[grivet]]', and reclassified as ''[[Chlorocebus]]''. The vervet and [[malbrouck]] have also been considered [[conspecific]], or as [[subspecies]] of a widespread ''Ch. aethiops''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kingdon, J. |year=1997 |title=The Kingdom Guide to African Mammals |publisher=Academic Press Limited, London |isbn=0-12-408355-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/kingdonfieldguid00jona}}</ref> The different [[taxon|taxa]] are distinguished by coat colour and other [[Morphology (anatomy)|morphological]] characteristics. The characteristics of ''Ch. aethiops'' graduate into ''Ch. pygerythrus'' where their ranges meet, and thus deciding if the vervets commonly known to occur in Kenya are actually ''Ch. aethiops'' is difficult; animals in the same pack may be classified as one species or the other, and ''Ch. pygerythrus'' may also interbreed with [[Chlorocebus tantalus|''Ch. tantalus'']] where their ranges meet.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2015/01/14/primate-discoveries-in-northwest-kenya/ |title=A rainbow of savanna monkeys |last1=de Jong |first1=Y. |last2=Butynski |first2=T. |date=14 January 2015 |website=National Geographic Society Newsroom |publisher=[[National Geographic]] |access-date=10 April 2021}}</ref>

Colin Groves recognised the below five subspecies of vervet monkey in the third edition of ''Mammals of the World'':<ref name=msw3/>

* ''Chlorocebus pygerythrus excubitor''
* ''Ch. p. hilgerti'' from southern [[Kenya]]<ref name="gbif.net">Biodiversity occurrence data provided by: Field Museum of Natural History, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of Washington Burke Museum, and University of Turku (Accessed through GBIF Data Portal, www.gbif.net, 2010-06-18)</ref>
* ''Ch. p. nesiotes''
* ''Ch. p. pygerythrus'' from [[South Africa]], [[Botswana]],<ref name="gbif.net"/> [[Lesotho]], and [[Eswatini]].<ref name="Cillie1992">{{cite book |last=Cillié |first=B. |year=1992 |title=Pocket guide to southern African mammals |isbn=0-627-01686-3 |publisher=Van Schaik Publishers}}</ref>
* ''Ch. p. rufoviridis'' from [[Mozambique]]<ref name="gbif.net"/> and [[Uganda]] has a distinctly reddish-coloured back, which is darker towards the base of the tail.<ref name="Skinner1990" />

Groves used ''Ch. p. hilgerti'' for all East African vervets except the insular subspecies ''Ch. p. excubitor'' and ''Ch. p. nesiotes''. The name ''Ch. p. centralis'' has been suggested to have precedence, and that ''Ch. p. hilgerti'' should be restricted to the population of southern Ethiopia.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Gippoliti | first = S. | title = The name of the East African vervet monkey (genus ''Chlorocebus'' Gray, 1870) (Primates, Cercopithecidae) | journal = Doriana | volume = 9 | issue = 404 | location = Genoa | date = December 2018 | issn = 0417-9927}}</ref>

=== Synonymy ===
''Ch. p. pygerythrus'', as ''Cercopithecus aethiops'', was also formerly divided into four subspecies:

*''C. a. pygerythrus'', from South Africa ([[Western Cape]], [[Eastern Cape]], [[Northern Cape]] and southern [[KwaZulu-Natal]]), and Lesotho; is said to have pale-colored limbs and white hands and feet (though the hands are also said to be black with a scattering of greyish hairs),<ref name="Skinner1990"/> and a greyish body colour with an olive sheen.<ref name="Cillie1992"/>
*''C. a. cloetei'', from northern [[KwaZulu-Natal]], Eswatini, and northern South Africa; is darker, with greyish-brown speckles and dark feet.<ref name="Cillie1992"/>
*''C. a. marjoriae'', from southern Botswana and the [[North West Province (South Africa)|North West Province]] of South Africa; is pale in colour (light ash-grey).<ref name="Cillie1992"/>
*''C. a. ngamiensis'',<ref>Meester, J. A. J., I. L. Rautenbach, N. J. Dippenaar, and C. M. Baker. 1986. Classification of southern African mammals. Transvaal Museum Monographs 5:1–359</ref> from north-eastern Botswana and the [[Okavango Basin|Okavango]]; has pale feet and a yellowish back<ref name="Cillie1992"/> and the tail is darker (especially towards the tip) than in other southern vervets.<ref name="Skinner1990" />

These subspecies are no longer recognised and are synonymous with ''Ch. p. pygerythrus''.