TheEthiopianWolf03
Well-Known Member
Is it just me or do any of you get upset when someone calls an ape a monkey? This happens in every single zoo I go to.
Things people do that irritate you when you go to the zoo?
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Komodo99
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I don't get upset but they are wasting an education opportunity to learn something for themselves or if there are children present.
overread
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It's strange when its animals like pandas or lions or tigers or meerkats which are heavily used in marketing material and presented to us quite regularly in media and daily life. Even if you've limited animal interest you can expect to run across some of these species regularly.
But the thing is if you've no real interest or need to understand something, chances are you won't understand/know about it. Even if its really simple (most things in life are simple). Many people have little to no reason to really understand wildlife, so they don't. They have a sketchy understanding of a few things and in the end to them if its a panda or a lemur or a cheetah the name isn't really critically important.
Of course at a zoo its a kind of annoyance when there's pictures with a name printed on nearly every single enclosure.
If it's a parent with a toddler, I can understand as young children generalise a lot of things into categories at that age. Beyond this situation it irritates me. Most school age children have the ability to understand the concept of an ape vs a monkey so parents should be aware of this and be accurate in the information they tell their children at this age. When I hear grown adults talking about a 'noisy monkey' while talking about a boisterous chimpanzee, I think something that wouldn't be appopriate to say in polite company.
Water Dragon
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When people always call peafowl peacocks even when they are female peahens!!!
Komodo99
Well-Known Member
People who chase them as well.Only a matter of time before one lashes out.
What a peacock or someone from this forum? #joke
Not to be pedantic, but in this case those people are right. By all means, apes are haplorine (dry-nosed) primates, more commonly known as monkeys. Yes, it seems odd to call them that, but there is nothing wrong with it and it very much should not upset you if it happens
Not to be pedantic, but in this case those people are right. By all means, apes are haplorine (dry-nosed) primates, more commonly known as monkeys. Yes, it seems odd to call them that, but there is nothing wrong with it and it very much should not upset you if it happens
To be pedantic, I very much disagree. "Monkey" is not a taxonomic term, and almost universally used to define the platyrrhine-catarrhine grade, rather than the haplorhine clade. Tarsiers, also haplorhines, are similarly excluded.
In that case, we'll have to agree to disagree. You mention "monkeys" are universally used to define platyrrhines and catarrhines.. As apes are catarrhines, doesn't that still make them monkeys following your definition?
Water Dragon
Well-Known Member
When people push you out of the way when you are trying to take a photo 
And the award for worst post not to check goes to...
(I, of course, meant cercopithecids)
Edit: Just to be absolutely clear, this is a neontological stance. I've no idea what a palaeontologist would say on the matter.
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Water Dragon
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When I was last at Chester Zoo, people kept on trying to knock the leaf-cutter ants off the stick and into the water.
Komodo99
Well-Known Member
I was at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis last year and the entire colony of leaf cutter ants are free roaming in easy reach for any random mug to pick them up or squish them.
From a phylogenetics point, the term "monkey" could be used in different ways. I've heard different experts use it to describe different groups. Generally, monkeys are either a paraphyletic group including all haplorhines but excluding tarsiiformes and hominoidea, or a polyphyletic group including platyrrhines and catarrhines excluding hominoidea. I've even heard experts use the term to describe a monophyletic clade for haplorhines including hominoidea and tarsiiformes. It's mostly up to opinion as there is no universally accepted taxonomic definition for "monkey".
Because of that, I don't get as annoyed when someone calls an ape a monkey. But I still get annoyed when they call a lemur or sloth a monkey
Because of that, I don't get as annoyed when someone calls an ape a monkey. But I still get annoyed when they call a lemur or sloth a monkey
Not something that annoys me (although flash photography and banging on glass is very high up that list) - but reading all the comments about species misidentification I thought I would let you all know my most embarrassing moment recently and say - sometime its not the parents fault!!
We (me and my 2 girls 6 and 9) go to UK zoos a lot and have done since they were small so they are pretty spot on with their identification of animals usually. However, we were in Edinburgh recently and wandered through the Magic forest. There were a couple of other families in there looking at the Grey-legged dourourcouli. Imagine my horror when I heard my youngest excitedly call her sister over to boldly tell her 'Look, look... I've found a haggis - mum... mum... its a haggis!! I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me!!
We (me and my 2 girls 6 and 9) go to UK zoos a lot and have done since they were small so they are pretty spot on with their identification of animals usually. However, we were in Edinburgh recently and wandered through the Magic forest. There were a couple of other families in there looking at the Grey-legged dourourcouli. Imagine my horror when I heard my youngest excitedly call her sister over to boldly tell her 'Look, look... I've found a haggis - mum... mum... its a haggis!! I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me!!
What's a haggis?
I think @Hozzell referred to a fictional creature of Scottish folklore, known as the Wild haggis.
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