Related topics: brain · primates

Why monkeys attack people: A primate expert explains

Wildlife tourism thrives on our fascination with animals and primates are particularly attractive animals to tourists. With their human-like faces, complex family dynamics and acrobatic antics, they are a joy to behold.

Inequality not inevitable among mammals, study shows

Because literature and film so often depict nature as inherently unfair, people assume that animals live in a "dog-eat-dog world." Inequality might seem like an inevitable fact of life, but a new analysis of data for 66 species ...

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Monkey

Cebidae Aotidae Pitheciidae Atelidae Cercopithecidae

A monkey is any cercopithecoid (Old World monkey) or platyrrhine (New World monkey) primate. All primates that are not prosimians (lemurs and tarsiers) or apes are monkeys. The 264 known extant monkey species represent two of the three groupings of simian primates (the third group being the 21 species of apes). Monkeys are usually smaller and/or longer-tailed than apes.

The New World monkeys are classified within the parvorder Platyrrhini, whereas the Old World monkeys (superfamily Cercopithecoidea) form part of the parvorder Catarrhini, which also includes the apes. Thus, scientifically speaking, monkeys are paraphyletic (not a single coherent group), and Old World monkeys are actually more closely related to the apes than they are to the New World monkeys.

Due to its size (up to 1 m/3 ft) the Mandrill is often thought to be an ape, but it is actually an Old World monkey. Also, a few monkey species have the word "ape" in their common name.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA