Monkeys and Apes question?

adrian1963

adrian1963

Well-Known Member
Could some please explain to me the difference between the following as I have just starting to take more interest in the following?

Monkeys – Old world and new world
Primates
Apes

Why are there so many different categories for these animals as I said I have just started to take more interest in this type species but would like to understand a little more about each group?

If you would like to explain in more detail feel free to p/m me or even e-mail me (on profile page).

EDIT - which zoo other than Twycross have agood diverse collection of the above.

Or even if you know of a good website I could visit to get the information I would be extremely grateful.

Many thanks in advance
 
adrian1963 said:
Could some please explain to me the difference between the following as I have just starting to take more interest in the following?

Monkeys – Old world and new world
Primates
Apes

Why are there so many different categories for these animals as I said I have just started to take more interest in this type species but would like to understand a little more about each group?
Click to expand...

There aren't really any more categories for primates than any other group.

'Primates' is an Order (the same level of classification as, say, rodents (Rodentia) or carnivores (Carnivora) ). It includes apes, monkeys and prosimians (the group that includes lemurs, galagos, tarsiers and lorises).

'Apes' is a catch-all term for certain groups of large, tailless primates, all originating in the Old World (Eurasia/Africa). The term 'Ape' would generally cover the following genera:

Family Hylobatidae:
Gibbons (Hylobates, Nomascus, Symphalangus)

Family Hominidae:
Orang-Utans (Pongo)
Gorillas (Gorilla)
Chimpanzees/Bonobos (Pan)
Humans (Homo)

Humans would be included in a scientific definition of 'ape' but when people use the term in converstion they probably aren't including us!

There are two other terms related to this one - 'lesser apes' refers to gibbons, 'great apes' refers to orangs, gorillas, chimps and bonobos.


The term 'monkey' pretty much means a primate that isn't an ape or a prosimian.

The closest relatives of the two ape families are the Old World Monkeys (family Cercopithecidae) - these are small-to-medium-sized primates, usually (but not always) having a tail, and native to Africa or Asia.

The group includes langurs, colobus, baboons, guenons, macaques and mangabeys, among others.

The 'sister group' to apes and Old World Monkeys are New World Monkeys, distinguished from the Old World monkeys most easily by being native to Central or South America (as well as certain other differences such as the arrangement of the face).

This group includes marmosets, tamarins, squirrel monkeys, capuchins, howlers, spider monkeys, woolly monkeys, douroucoulis, sakis, titis and uakaris.

The remainder of the primates are the Prosimians, which include the lemurs (a term broadly for any primate from the island of Madagascar, including atypical species like the Aye-Aye and Indri as well as the 'classic' lemurs), lorises, pottos, galagos (aka bushbabies) and tarsiers.

It's perhaps easier to see the relations on a tree arrangement, there's a good diagram here: Primate Phylogeny
 
I'd highly recommend the book Planet Ape by Desmond Morris.

Very informative with great photography
 
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