What is a Monkey?

monkeys

A monkey is any mammal in the Haplorrhini suborder of the simian infraorder Simiiformes (and other primates, but not lemurs or tarsiers). Monkeys are found in two groups—the New World monkeys of Mexico, Central America, and South America; and Old World monkeys of Africa, central to southern Asia, and Japan. There are more than 250 extant species.

Monkeys are the smartest mammals in the wild, with a plethora of tools to get them through life. Their prehensile tails help them grab onto branches and other objects to move around. Their hands and feet are both used for grasping, and they often have flattened claws on all digits except the thumb and big toe. Monkeys are omnivores, and they’ll eat leaves, fruit, flowers, seeds, insects, spiders, birds’ eggs, small mammals, and even fungus and rocks.

They communicate with facial expressions, body movements, and vocalizations. They use barks, screams, grunts, squeaks, hoots, wails, and moans to interact with other monkeys in their troop. They’ll look down or away to avoid staring at other monkeys, which may start a fight. They also use their long tails to signal their mood and territory.

Like apes, monkeys are highly social animals. They typically live in troops consisting of several females with young and a single male (hamadryas baboons, mandrills, guenons, and langurs) or a group of males (savannah baboons and macaques). The troop is led by the oldest female. The troops may be a mixed group of related and unrelated females and males, but in some species the males are more closely associated with the females than they are with other males.