Old World monkeys are more closely related to hominoids than they are to New World monkeys
The monkey usually has a tail and a short, narrow, man-like face.
Monkeys live in tropical jungles near rivers and streams, feeding on insects, fruit, and plants at sunrise and sunset. Some eat the flesh of small animals. All can use their feet as hands and their arms are usually longer than their legs.
A group of monkeys may be referred to as a mission or a tribe.
Most monkeys have an opposable great toe which serves them in the same manner as the thumbs on their hands. They are able to grasp objects with both feet and hands. Monkey's eyes are directed downward. They have binocular visión which is very similar to that in man.
Unlike apes, monkeys usually have tails.
There are two large groups of monkeys. The Old World monkey lives in Africa and Asia. The only monkeys in Europe are the Barbary apes, which are not a true ape.
The Old World monkeys have nostrils which open downward and 32 teeth. They have pouches and thick-skinned buttocks, and some have brilliant, colored markings. Many of them are tailless and if they have a tail it is not used in climbing. The rhesus monkey, in which the "rh factor" was discovered, is an Old World monkey.
The New World monkeys inhabit the tropics of South America, and the southern part of Mexico. The nose is flat and the nostrils are widely separated and open on the side. Most of them have tails called prehensile tails, which they use in tree-top travel.
The New World monkeys are without pouch or thick skin on the buttocks. They have four more teeth than the Old World monkey. The best known variety is the light-colored capuchin monkey with a hood-shaped shock of hair on its head.
The word "monkey" was originated in a German version of the Reynard the Fox fable, published circa 1580. In this version of the fable, a character named Moneke is the son of Martin the Ape.
Monkeys
