The tail of the baboon is approximately five inches long. The baboon is one example of an old world group of monkeys, with long snouts and gray, brown or tan fur that gets long around the chest and head. Virtually all catarrhini have tails, though none of them are prehensile, meaning they cannot use them to grab objects such as tree branches. Old World monkeys, or simiiformes catarrhini, mostly have more forward-facing noses, similar to humans. Overall, monkeys fall into two broad categories of appearance. These range from the pygmy marmoset, which less than six inches tall and weighs about as much as a deck of playing cards, to the colorful-nosed mandrill, which can weigh over 100 pounds and top out at over three feet long. Monkeys come in a wide range of sizes, colors and behaviors.
There exist over 250 species of monkeys, including macaques, tamarinds, and marmosets. Great apes-including chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans–have larger brains and no tails. Monkeys are something of a cousin to apes. This is in contrast to Platyrrhini, which comes from the Latin word for “broad nosed,” a reference to the more flattened nostrils of this class of monkey. Catarrhini comes from the latin for “hook nosed,” likely a reference to the closer, downward-pointed nostrils of these monkeys. Simiiformes, from which the word “simian” is derived, comes from the latin “simia” for ape or monkey. Monkeys fall under two scientific names: simiiformes catarrhini and simiiformes platyrrhini. While the thought of a pet monkey may seem nice, they are illegal to own in most states.For example, male mandrills have reached 119 pounds in size! Mega-sized: the world’s largest monkeys can reach significant sizes.Pocket-sized: the world’s smallest monkey, the pygmy marmoset, is less than six inches long and weighs less than a pack of playing cards!.Hanging out: Unlike their cousins, the apes, monkeys often have long tails–but only new world monkeys can use them to hang!.Born tree: some monkeys can swing through branches as fast as a racehorse!.Monkeys at risk: out of over 250 species, only one type of monkey was listed as being of “least concern” for extinction!.
Monkeys are some of the most popular animals in the world. Though they don’t walk on two legs, monkeys are closely related to humans–only great apes, such as chimpanzees, are more related. Though all monkeys have many similar characteristics and a close relationship to humans, an early evolutionary shift created two major groups today: “old” and “new” world monkeys. Despite their raw variety, most of them face threats from human development, capture and hunting. Monkeys are primates that comprise a wide range of species throughout much of the tropical world.
0 kommentar(er)
