Pack monkey

Pack monkeys are carnivorous primates of Nuclearth known for attacking in huge swarms, using their sheer numbers to bring down large prey. Though they are individually small and relatively harmless, pack monkeys are almost never found individually, and in large groups are capable of killing about anything in their environment, placing them at the top of their local food chain. Even humans are fair game for pack monkeys, making pack monkey territory very dangerous to pass through—although fortunately pack monkeys are only found in the wild in a relatively small area of Central America.

Description

Pack monkeys are relatively small, only about 70 centimeters or so tall. They have long arms and legs, their legs making up well over half their height, and lengthy prehensile tails that reach up to 50 centimeters. Their heads are pear-shaped, with small round ears set near the tops of their heads and wide, toothy mouths.

The pack monkey's fur is light tan over most of its body. The fur on their bellies is white, and they have some darker brown shading around the sides and on their tail tips, as well as white "beards" that extend from their chins up their cheeks.

Predation

Pack monkeys like to take their victims by surprise, watching for potential prey from their perches high in the trees and then dropping onto them from above. They attack with their sharp teeth and claws, rending and biting while using their tails and some of their paws to maintain their grip on their quarry. Pack monkeys are quick and intelligent, working together to beset their prey from all sides and to coördinate their attacks, one monkey opening up a weakness for another to exploit, or one covering for another to enable it to make a risky move.

These clever predators are willing to attack almost anything, though they prefer soft-bodied prey such as most mammals over scaly or shelly prey that their claws and teeth cannot penetrate as easily. Size is no object; a large group of pack monkeys is capable of taking down almost anything. Certainly humans are well within a pack monkey's potential to kill, and many humans have fallen to these dangerous simians.

Habitat

Pack monkeys are creatures of the jungle, and spend most of their time in the trees when they aren't actively attacking prey on the ground. Fortunately, they are rare, and only found within an area of a little over a hundred thousand square kilometers. This has led many scholars to believe they must represent a relatively recent mutation, since if they had been around longer these successful predators would surely have overtaken a larger area. Of course, this implies that unless they are contained somehow they likely will overtake a larger area in the future.

Society

As their name implies, pack monkeys live and travel in large packs, which are almost always found together. Within the pack, there is a clear pecking order among the males, with each male having a set position in the order; the alpha male usually claims the most females, but does not entirely monopolize them; the higher of the subordinate males also get to claim some females of their own. Both male and female juveniles leave their packs upon maturity to seek out other packs. The females, however, find it easier to become accepted into new packs, which accounts for the disparity of males to females within a pack; many males either die in fights with other males, or are killed by other animals while searching for a pack—as formidable as pack monkeys may be in large numbers, a single pack monkey by itself is relatively easy prey for larger predators.

Some people have attempted to keep pack monkeys as pets, but they do not seem to take well to captivity—aside from which, their much-feared nature makes people mistrust the very attempt, lest the murderous beings get free.