most monkeys have something you don’t have

Imagine what it would be like to live in the treetops. You could sit on a limb and watch what happens on the ground. You might grab some leaves and fruit to eat for lunch. You might swing over to your neighbor’s tree to play with some friends. This is how a lot of monkeys live.

Of course, most monkeys have something you don’t have that helps them swing easily from branch to branch. They have a long, strong tail.

WHERE DO MONKEYS LIVE?

One group of monkeys, called New World monkeys, lives in Central and South America. Marmosets, capuchin monkeys, douroucoulis, spider monkeys, woolly monkeys, and howler monkeys are kinds of New World monkeys.

Another group of monkeys, called Old World monkeys, lives in Africa and Asia. Old World monkeys include guenons, mangabeys, colobus monkeys, macaques, langurs, and baboons.

Most monkeys spend much of their lives in trees. Some monkeys, such as baboons, live on the ground most of the time. But even baboons sleep in trees.

Most monkeys live in warm rain forests. But the Asian snub-nosed langurs and the African vervet live high up on mountains where there is snow. The Japanese macaque lives on the mountainous island of Honshu, where winters are cold. Some yellow baboons live in the dry Namib Desert of southwest Africa.

WHAT DO MONKEYS LOOK LIKE?

Monkeys are animals called primates. They have two legs and two long arms with hands that can grasp things. Monkeys have ears on each side of their heads and two eyes that face forward. Most monkeys also have tails. Their larger primate relatives, the apes, do not have tails.

Monkeys have hands and fingers that are a lot like those of humans. Their fingers and toes are very flexible. Many monkeys have thumbs that are opposable. Opposable thumbs can be closed against the other fingers to create a tight grip. Most animals do not have opposable thumbs. Some monkeys also have big toes that act like thumbs.

New World monkeys have broad noses and grasping tails. Old World monkeys have narrow noses, and their tails cannot grasp things.

LITTLE MONKEYS AND BIG MONKEYS

The pygmy marmoset is the world's smallest monkey. It is just 12 inches (30 centimeters) long, including its tail. These tiny monkeys weigh as little as 4 ounces (113 grams) when fully grown.

Howlers are some of the biggest monkeys. They can be up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) from the top of the head to the tip of the tail. But they weigh only about 22 pounds (10 kilograms), so they are very skinny. Baboons are sturdier. A male baboon can weigh up to 90 pounds (41 kilograms).

HOW SMART ARE MONKEYS?

Like other primates, monkeys are among the smartest animals. Biologists think that monkeys can remember where different fruit trees are. They can even remember when the fruit gets ripe.

Monkeys communicate with one another. They make signs with parts of their bodies. They call out to one another.

Biologists believe that baboons deceive, or fool, one another. This means that one baboon has to think about what another baboon is thinking.

Most monkeys use their intelligence to protect themselves from enemies. For example, capuchins try to scare off enemies. They urinate on enemies from high in the trees. They jump up and down to make dead branches fall on the enemies on the ground.

MONKEY FAMILIES

Monkeys are very social. Males, females, and baby monkeys live together in groups. Some species (kinds) of monkeys live in small family groups. Other species live in larger groups called troops. There might be more than 100 monkeys in a troop.

Female monkeys usually give birth to only one baby at a time. The baby stays with its mother while it feeds on her milk. In many species, the females stay with their mother’s family group for life. Males often leave their mother’s family group when they grow up.

Compared to other animals, monkeys live a long time. It’s hard to know how long a monkey in the wild will live. But some monkeys in zoos have lived to be more than 50 years old.

WHAT DO MONKEYS EAT?

What a monkey eats depends on the size of its group. Some species, such as howler monkeys, feed mainly on leaves. The leaf eaters often live in small groups. They make loud noises to defend their area of forest. High in the treetops they are safe from enemies that live on the ground. But they have to watch out for eagles and other meat-eating birds.

Other monkeys eat a mixture of food. They eat leaves, flowers, bird eggs, and small animals. These monkeys look for food on the ground. They take greater risks. They could be eaten by enemies, such as cheetahs or lions. To survive, they band together into larger troops. Baboons and other monkeys in troops often take turns standing guard. The guard monkey calls out if there is danger.

ARE MONKEYS ENDANGERED?

Many monkeys are in danger of losing their forest homes. People cut down the trees for wood. They clear the forests to make farms and towns. This leaves the monkeys with less space to live and less food to eat.

Some monkeys, like South American marmosets, are captured and sold as pets. Marmosets are among the most endangered monkeys. But monkeys are not domesticated animals, like cats or dogs. They do not make good pets. Monkeys can be very messy and destructive. They can behave unpredictably and even pose a danger to people.