Chlorocebus

Chlorocebus
Chlorocebus head color patterns Top left: green monkey, top right: grivet Bottom left: malbrouck, bottom right: vervet
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	Cercopithecidae
Subfamily:	Cercopithecinae
Tribe:	Cercopithecini
Genus:	Chlorocebus J. E. Gray, 1870
Type species
Simia aethiops Linnaeus, 1766
Species
Chlorocebus aethiops Chlorocebus cynosuros Chlorocebus djamdjamensis Chlorocebus dryas Chlorocebus pygerythrus Chlorocebus sabaeus Chlorocebus tantalus

Chlorocebus is a genus of medium-sized primates from the family of Old World monkeys. Six species are currently recognized, although some people classify them all as a single species with numerous subspecies. Either way, they make up the entirety of the genus Chlorocebus.

Confusingly, the terms "vervet monkey" and "green monkey" are sometimes used to refer to the whole genus Chlorocebus, though they also refer more precisely to species Chlorocebus pygerythrus and Chlorocebus sabaeus, respectively, neither of which is the type species for Chlorocebus. This article uses the term Chlorocebus consistently for the genus and the common names only for the species.

The native range of these monkeys is sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Ethiopia south to South Africa. However, in previous centuries, a number of them were taken as pets by early Caribbean settlers and slave traders, and were transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean islands. The monkeys subsequently escaped or were released and became naturalized. Today, they are found on the West Indian islands of Barbados, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, and Saint Martin. A colony also exists in Broward County, Florida.^[1]