Rilatia monkey

Velocicebus dolichodactylus

After pandemics wiped out most African hoofstock, the niche of large-bodied grazer was ably filled by descendants of the patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas). Already swift and at home on the open grasslands, their descendants had limbs even more highly adapted for speed, with the toes reduced and the nails devloped into hooves. The running monkeys retained opposable thumbs and a free index finger on the forelimbs which is used to gather food and in the young for clinging on to the mother. A sharp clawlike nail on the inner toe of the hind foot adds lethality to kicks, to deter predators. Running monkeys typically roam in herds of females and their young, with a single attendant male. In the breeding season there is an influx of hopeful young males into the group, and a brief period of much shrieking and high-leaping battles as the male attempts to drive them off. Gestation lasts for 8 months, with the young born in an advanced state and able to run almost as fast as the adults in only a month. They will stay with their mother until two years old.

Illustrated is the Rilatia (pro. ril-AH-sha), a typical and common gazelle-like form.