The Patas Monkey is distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa. The ground-dwelling patas avoids dense woodlands and lives in more open savanna and semi-deserts and, perhaps as an evolutionary response to the high adult mortality rates associated with this strongly terrestrial lifestyle, has a remarkably high reproductive rate. The patas monkey feeds on insects, gum, seeds, and tubers, a diet more characteristic of much smaller primates, and they grow to 85 cm in length, excluding the tail, which measures 75 cm. Adult males are considerably larger than adult females and some of them can reach speeds of 55 km/h, making them the fastest runner among the primates. They have several distinct alarm calls that warn members in the group of predators. Different alarm calls are given by different group members and certain alarm calls indicate particular predators. Unlike other primates, patas monkeys rarely take refuge from predators in trees. This is most likely the due to the relatively sparse tree cover in patas monkey habitats. While patas monkeys usually run away from predators, both male and female individuals have been observed to attack predators, such as jackals and wildcats.