Range:
Old World monkeys are found in Africa, Central to southern Asia, Japan, and India; New World monkeys are found in Mexico and Central and South America; Marmosets and tamarins are found in Central and South America
Habitat:
Old World monkeys live in rain forests, islands, steppes, mountains, and savanna, depending on species; New World monkeys live in tropical rain forests; Marmosets and tamarins live in tropical rain forests and scrublands
A barrel of monkeys
They’re magnificent, mischievous, and sometimes mysterious—monkeys! They have many different adaptations, depending on their habitat. Most are arboreal. Others, like macaques, baboons, and some mangabeys, are more terrestrial. All monkeys can use their hands and feet for holding on to branches, but some arboreal monkeys can use their tails, too. Tails that can grab and hold are called prehensile. These special tails are ridged on the underside and very flexible, so much so that they can grab a tree branch or pick up something as small as a peanut!
Monkeys are found in two main regions of the world, so scientists have grouped them as either Old World monkeys or New World monkeys. Old World monkeys are found in Africa and Asia. Some examples are guenons, mangabeys, macaques, baboons, and colobus monkeys. New World monkeys are found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Some examples are woolly monkeys, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and squirrel monkeys. Marmosets and tamarins also live where New World monkeys are found but are different enough to be in their own different scientific grouping.
There are a few characteristics that are different between the Old World and New World monkeys:
Noses— Most Old World monkeys have small curved nostrils set close together. Most New World monkeys have round nostrils set far apart.
Cheek pouches— Macaques and some of the other Old World monkeys have cheek pouches, where food is stuffed on the run so it can be chewed later. New World monkeys don’t have cheek pouches.
Rump pads— Some Old World monkeys such as drills, have sitting pads on their rumps, but New World monkeys do not.
Tails— Some New World monkeys, such as spider monkeys, have prehensile tails, but Old World monkeys do not. And one Old World monkey species, the Barbary macaque, has no tail at all!
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon