How many types of monkeys are in this world?
There are many types of monkeys in this world, and to classify them all is a bit of a difficult task. For many readers of this article, I would try to break down the classification and general features in an easy way to understand it.
Old World VS New World monkeys
There are two groups of monkeys used by the scientists. One is called Old World Monkeys, who are living in Asia and Africa. These monkeys live on the ground, and little life is spent on the bark of trees. They have narrow noses and downward-directed nostrils. They have color vision and fewer teeth.
On the other hand, New World Monkeys are the ones living in Central or South America. They live on the bark of trees and can grasp anything by their tails. Moreover, they have broad noses and outward-directed nostrils. As far as vision is concerned, they may be equivalent to color-blind humans or have seen few colors.
Nowadays, many scientists are replacing the terms old and new world monkeys with Asian/African and Central/South American monkeys respectively. This is a bit easy to understand according to the geographical angle.
Here, one thing is essential to understand, ape and monkey are not the same. Monkeys have tails while apes do not have tails. The terms ape and monkeys are used interchangeably, but now you know they differ in some aspects of characteristics.
How many types of monkeys are in this world?
Following are the common types of Old World monkeys:
Baboon monkey
The first type of monkey is the baboon. Baboon is a genus that comes under the family, which comes under the order of primates. Baboon monkeys have long muzzles and hairless bottoms, which help them to sit comfortably on the surface, but this thing is not quite presentable to people when they are kept in zoos.
On the other hand, they also do some nasty things, so many tourists do not like them. They have a very bad reputation for using children as shields. Baboons have five species mainly sacred baboon, chacma baboon, olive baboon, yellow baboon, and guinea baboon.
The Chacma baboon is a famous baboon species. Chacma baboon males are heavier than females, and they weigh 2.2 pounds more than females. They are omnivorous animals mainly preying on insects and fruits but also love to eat vegetables and table items. They are prey to many predators, but the famous one is the leopard. They belong to old-world monkeys or Asian/African monkeys.
Guenons monkey
The next type of monkey is the guenons monkey, which belongs to African monkey groups. They are distinctive for their bright and beautiful fur colors. They have 26 different species and are the most diverse group of monkeys in Africa.
The one distinctive creature from this group is the Allen swamp monkey, which lives near water. They have skin webbing between their fingers, which helps them swim fast and escape the predator or catch prey in the wild.
Macaques Monkey
This is the next type of old-world monkey that is found in Tibet, Thailand, Indonesia, and other parts of Asia. You may have seen some monkeys pickpocketing or snatching food and other stuff from the tourist, they are macaques. They have 23 different species and very complex social behavior, which we are unable to understand fully.
The infant in this group of monkeys is used as a social tool to bring the male and the female together. Whenever an infant is born, the male and female smack their lips on its genitalia, and the male member spends much time with newborn infants. The exact cause of this behavior is not known to us.
These monkeys have excellent social behavior and love to move here and there. From a geographical point of view, this group is divided into Tibetan macaques, Barbary macaques in North Africa, and the Crab-eating macaques also called long-tail macaques.
The Long-tail macaques mainly feed on crabs and are found near the seashore where crabs are abundantly present. They are omnivorous animals and love to eat vegetables, fruits, and seeds. They have long tails sometimes longer than the body itself.
Mandrills monkey
The next Old World Monkey on the list is the mandrill monkey. They live in west and central Africa and have bright red noses. They are the largest monkeys weighing 54 kg. Males are more beautiful than females. The male has a bright red nose and a central red line between its face.
Moreover, they have bright brown hair and an orange beard. They have white whiskers that look like mustaches and have the longest canine teeth in the order primates which is why they have a long skull structure.
Females have less bright hair and live in groups. They spend most of their time on the ground and are classified as vulnerable species.
The proboscis monkey
The Next type of monkey is the proboscis monkey, which is famous due to its long nose much like the proboscis of insects like those of mosquitoes, which helps them to suck blood. Proboscis monkeys are found on the Island of Borneo near the lakes and rivers where the soil is enriched with minerals and salts. They move and sleep in groups with only one male but sometimes are in solitary confinement.
They mainly communicate with voices, and recent studies suggest the lone proboscis is used to attract mates by these monkeys. Moreover, males are heavier weighing 35 to 40 lb as compared to females weighing only 26 lb. They are considered endangered species because of deforestation and habitat destruction.
Chimpanzee VS Gorilla
The one important thing is to differentiate between these two Old World Monkeys. First, we will talk about chimpanzees, which are much more slender and have large ears. They have black hair on their body except the face, palms, and lower side of their toes. They have pink-colored faces and arms. They are 3 to 5 feet tall and weigh around 50 to 150 pounds.
The next type of monkey is the gorilla, which also has black hair on its body except for the face and palms like that of chimpanzees, but they have black color face and palms. They have wide shoulders and larger bodies as compared to chimpanzees. They are 3 to 8 feet tall, weigh around 200 to 500 pounds, and have short ears.
Following are the types of New World monkeys:
Tamarin Monkeys
The next type of monkey is the golden lion tamarin monkey, which is tiny and is marked as an endangered species. There are approximately 1000 mature individuals left in the wild and 540 in captivity. They were on the edge of extinction when they were brought back to the world by the captive breeding of golden lion tamarins in United States zoos.
The golden lion tamarins have claws instead of nails except for the big toe. They have golden orange fur and have long hair around their ears and on their body. They give birth to twins and not just ordinary twins but dizygotic twins meaning they have two dads. The male takes care of the young ones, which is very rare in primates like them.
The squirrel monkeys
The next type of monkey is the squirrel monkey, which lives in Central and South America. The two common types of squirrel monkeys are the Central American squirrel monkey, which is considered to be endangered as there are only 5000 individuals left in the wild. They have orange backs and white underneath the chest area. They have white faces with black outlines of eyes. They love to move on four feet and live most of their life on branches.
The other type is the common squirrel monkey which is also found in America but it is of least concern as many of them are present. They love to eat fruits and seeds. They were once considered a diverse group of monkeys but recent studies showed that there are only 3 to 4 species present in this world.
Common marmosets monkeys
The last type of monkey is the common marmoset monkey which is found mainly in America. They have claws instead of nails like that of the golden tamarins except for the big toe.
They have long tails and are least concerned by the IUCN. They mainly feed on the exudates of the trees and the insects.
Bottom line
We have discussed the major types of monkeys so far and there are many more to come. This is a short guide to understand what common types of monkeys you will come across when you visit the zoo near you. Wild is full of mysteries and adventures and to learn about the species of wild is itself an exciting job.
Please drop a comment if you like the blog and do let me know what topics I should cover for you.
