Is a chimpanzee a monkey? Monkeys Which monkey has the longest arms
Chimpanzees are often mistaken for a type of monkey, which is what they are called in books, movies, and commercials. However, chimpanzees are not great apes: they belong to the family of mammals known as hominids. Other hominids are gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, and humans.
Hominids form one half of the hominin superfamily, the other half are gibbons, which include gibbons and siamangs.
The main difference between chimpanzees and monkeys is that almost all monkeys have a tail, which they use as a fifth appendage. And, despite the fact that monkeys are quite smart animals, but compared to most hominids, their mental abilities are weak, since hominids have a much larger brain in relation to the body and more skillfully use improvised objects.
In addition, the growth of the largest monkey, the mandrill, does not exceed 91 cm, while chimpanzees grow up to 170 cm. Chimpanzees also have a much longer life expectancy, sometimes comparable to that of a human.
The most significant difference between chimpanzees and apes is in genetics: humans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas are genetically closely related species. Some scientists believe that humans and chimpanzees share 96-99% of their DNA. Monkeys are more distant from people - in percentage terms, the total number of genes does not exceed 93%.
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Surely it is not a secret for anyone that for a long time in scientific circles the monkey was considered our closest relative, and the origin of man was from the monkey. Now this scientific theory is being called into question, not all scientists believe that we, the so-called "homo sapiens" are descended from monkeys. However, scientific disputes on this subject are still ongoing, but our article is not about this, but about those amazing creatures, our smaller brothers, who, among all the diverse animal world of planet Earth, really, in their structure, are most similar to us humans.
Monkey: description, structure, characteristics. What does a monkey look like?
Let's start with the fact that the very origin of the name "monkey" is very curious. Until the 16th century, we called the monkey "opica", by the way, the Czechs still call it that. After the Russian traveler Athanasius Nikitin returned from his famous trip to India, he brought into use the Persian name "abuzina", meaning literally "father of fornication". Subsequently, the Persian "abuzina" was actually transformed into a "monkey".
The body length of a monkey, depending on its species, can range from 15 cm (for a pygmy igunka) to 2 m (for a gorilla). Also, the mass of a monkey can be from 150 grams in the smallest representatives of the species, up to 275 kg - this is how much huge gorillas weigh.
Many monkeys lead an arboreal lifestyle, that is, they mainly live in trees and, as a result, have a long back, a shortened narrow chest, and thin hip bones. But orangutans and gibbons have a wide chest and massive pelvic bones.
Some monkeys have a very long tail, the length of which can even exceed the size of the body, the monkey's tail acts as a balancer when moving between trees. But the monkeys living on the ground have a very short tail. As for monkeys without a tail, all "humanoid" monkeys do not have it (as well as people do not have it).
The body of monkeys is covered with hair of different colors, depending on the species, it can be light brown, red, black and white, gray-olive. Some adult monkeys can turn gray with age, and male monkeys can go bald, again almost like people.
Monkeys have mobile, well-developed upper limbs, very similar to our hands, each with five fingers, and monkeys living in trees have short and large fingers, which allows them to fly comfortably from branch to branch.
Monkeys have binocular vision, many of them have black pupils of the eyes.
The teeth of monkeys are also similar to those of humans, narrow-nosed monkeys have 32 teeth, and broad-nosed monkeys have 36.
The brain of the monkey is also very well developed; among other representatives of the animal world, only dolphins could compete with monkeys in terms of intelligence. Great apes have entire regions of the brain responsible for meaningful actions.
Monkeys communicate with each other using a special signal system, consisting of facial expressions and sounds. The most "talkative" among them are monkeys and capuchins, they have rich facial expressions, are able to express a wide range of feelings.
Where do monkeys live
Monkeys live on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica, of course. In Europe, they live only in Gibraltar, in Southeast Asia, Africa (with the exception of Madagascar), Central and South America, and Australia.
Monkey lifestyle
Monkeys live in small families and, according to their lifestyle, are divided into tree monkeys living on trees and terrestrial ones living on the ground. Monkeys tend to be sedentary and rarely leave their territory.
Sometimes there are clashes between male monkeys, with the goal of deciding the answer to the question “who is the main male here”, although often such clashes are limited to a demonstration of the strength of each male and do not reach a real fight.
How long do monkeys live
On average, the life expectancy of monkeys is 30-40 years. However, great apes live longer, they can live up to 50 years.
What do monkeys eat
Monkeys are omnivorous animals, and their diet depends on one or another species and also on the habitat. Tree monkeys eat everything that can be obtained on trees - fruits, nuts, and sometimes insects are different.
Terrestrial monkeys feed on rhizomes and shoots of plants (for example, ferns are a favorite delicacy of the gorilla), fruits (figs, mangoes, and, of course, bananas). Also, some monkeys know how to fish, eat mollusks, rodents, grasshoppers, beetles and other small animals with pleasure.
Although there are species of monkeys that eat only one, certain food, for example, Japanese short-tailed macaques are pure vegetarians and feed exclusively on tree bark, and the crab-eating macaque, as its name implies, eats crabs.
Monkey Enemies
Unfortunately, the monkeys themselves have many enemies in natural conditions, who are not averse to feasting on these primates. The most sworn enemies of monkeys are leopards, which are also capable of climbing trees well and other predatory "" - lions, cheetahs.
Types of monkeys, photos and names
In general, all types of monkeys can be divided into:
- broad-nosed monkeys - this includes monkeys that live on the American continent,
- narrow-nosed monkeys - all other monkeys that live in Africa, Asia, Australia and European Gibraltar.
Regarding different types of monkeys, zoologists have separately distinguished the types of anthropoid apes, types of small monkeys, etc. In general, there are more than 400 species of these primates in nature, below we will describe the most interesting of them.
It is a member of the spider monkey family. It is named so due to the fact that it makes characteristic sounds that can be heard at a distance of up to 5 km. The males of the black howler are covered with black hair and fully justify their name, but the females of the black howler are not black at all, their coat is yellow-brown or olive. The length of this monkey is 56-67 cm, with a weight of 6.7 kg. The black howler lives in South America, on the territory of countries such as Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia.
Belonging to the chaintail family, the capuchin is an arboreal monkey that lives in trees. The weight of a capuchin is 3 kg. Has a brown or gray-brown color. A very curious feature of this species of monkeys is their habit of rubbing themselves with poisonous centipedes () to protect themselves from blood-sucking insects. Mourning capuchins live in the crowns of the tropical forests of Brazil, Venezuela.
It got its unusual name due to its gray with shades of blue color and a white stripe of wool that runs over the eyebrows like a crown. The body length of the crowned monkey is 50-60 cm and weighs 5-6 kg. Monkeys live in African forests from the Congo Basin to Ethiopia and Angola.
Belongs to the great apes of the gibbon family. It has a length of 55-65 cm and a weight of 5-6 kg. The coat color of the white-handed gibbon can be black, sand or brown, but its hands are always white, hence the name. These gibbons live in the tropical forests of China and the Malay Archipelago.
eastern gorilla
Gorilla is the largest monkey in the world. The average size of a gorilla is 185 cm with a body weight of 180 kg. Although sometimes there are also larger gorillas, weighing all 220 kg. These huge monkeys are distinguished by a large head, broad shoulders, and an expanded chest. The color of the gorilla's coat is black; in old age, gorillas, like people, can turn gray. Despite their formidable appearance, gorillas prefer to eat grass, plant shoots, rather than hunt for game. Gorillas live in the equatorial forests of Central and West Africa.
He is also a white-headed saki, in our opinion, this monkey has the strangest appearance - the black color of his coat contrasts brightly with the white color of his face. The size of pale saki is 30-48 cm and weighs 2 kg. This is a tree monkey living in the forests of Brazil, Venezuela, Suriname.
He is a flattened baboon, is a species of narrow-nosed monkeys who spend their entire lives exclusively on earth. It is also a rather large monkey, the body length of the hamadryas is 70-100 cm, weight 30 kg. It also has an unusual appearance - long hair on the shoulders and chest forms a kind of fur cape. The hamadryas lives both in Africa and Asia in a number of countries, such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen.
The nosy monkey, she is also a kahau, belongs to the monkey family. A striking feature of this monkey is its large nose, which the monkeys even have to hold with their hands during the meal. It has a yellow-brown color. The size of the nose is 66-77 cm with a weight of 15-22 kg. It also has a long tail, which is equal in size to the length of their body. These unusual species of monkeys live exclusively on the island of Borneo.
Living in the northern part of the Japanese island of Honshu, this monkey is a real hallmark of these places. The size of the Japanese macaque is 80-95 cm, weight 12-14 kg. These monkeys have bright red skin, which is especially noticeable on their face and buttocks, devoid of wool. Macaques living in northern Japan survive the cold winter months in special thermal springs, warming themselves in their hot waters (and at the same time attract crowds of tourists from all over the world).
The Sumatran orangutan is a rather large monkey, its size reaches one and a half meters and weighs 150-160 kg. In terms of size, the orangutan takes an honorable second place after the gorilla. It has a well-developed musculature, a massive body covered with red hair, climbs trees perfectly. The muzzle of the orangutan has fatty rollers located on the cheeks, and the beard and mustache give it a very funny look. The charismatic Sumatran orangutan lives exclusively on the island of Sumatra.
For some reason, monkeys are most associated with the chimpanzee, which is the most characteristic representative of the monkey kingdom. Chimpanzees are also relatively large monkeys, their body length is 140-160 cm and weighs 65-80 kg, that is, they are like people in their size. The body of a chimpanzee is covered with black fur. It is also very curious that these anthropoid apes are the only ones who thought of creating a semblance of tools that facilitate the process of obtaining food, they are able to sharpen the ends of sticks, turning them into imitation spears, they can use stone leaves as traps for insects, etc. Without a doubt, it is chimpanzees are the most intelligent among the monkeys, and if Darwin's theory is right, then it is they who are in the closest family connection with us people. Chimpanzees live mainly in Central and West Africa.
And finally, it was impossible not to mention the pygmy marmoset - the smallest monkey in the world. Its length is only 10-15 cm, weight - 100-150 grams. They live in the forests of South America, feeding exclusively on tree sap.
Reproduction of monkeys in nature
Reproduction of monkeys occurs throughout the year and for each species has its own individual characteristics. Puberty in monkeys usually occurs by 7-8 years. Some species of monkeys are monogamous and create permanent families for life, others, such as capuchins, on the contrary, are polygamous, so female capuchins mate with several males, males do the same.
The pregnancy of a monkey can last from 6 to 8.5 months, again depending on the species. Usually one cub is born at a time, but there are species of monkeys that can give birth to twins.
Little monkeys, like real primates, are fed with mother's breast milk, and the period of feeding is also different for different monkeys. The female gorilla feeds her cubs the longest - this period lasts up to 3.5 years.
Keeping monkeys at home
Despite the fact that monkeys are wild creatures, nevertheless, they are very easy to train, get used to captivity, and under favorable conditions feel quite comfortable in zoos. True, keeping a monkey at home is not the best idea, they are terrible mischievous and fidgety, and if you have already decided to start a pet monkey, then you should prepare for it to make real chaos in your house. To prevent it, the monkey can be kept in some spacious cage.
You can feed the monkey with fish, chicken or turkey meat, boiled eggs, vegetables, nuts, fresh fruits.
- Some species of monkeys are very clean and spend almost the whole day caring for their appearance.
- During the development of astronautics, 32 monkeys have already managed to visit space.
- Spider monkeys have such a developed and strong tail that they can easily hang on a tree branch with just one help.
- A group of American scientists managed to teach a female gorilla a certain number of words from the language of the deaf and dumb, after which she was able to quite successfully communicate with people.
monkeys video
And finally, an interesting documentary about monkeys from the Discovery Channel - "Monkeys on the Warpath"
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Everything about everything. Volume 3 Likum Arkady
Is a chimpanzee a monkey?
A chimpanzee is a monkey, but special, the most intelligent of all monkeys! Monkeys belong to the most highly organized order of mammals, called primates, which includes humans. The whole body of monkeys is covered with hair, they usually live in trees and instead of claws on each of the five fingers of the hind and front paws they have nails.
All monkeys can be divided into 4 main groups: lemurs, Old World monkeys (baboons, etc.), New World monkeys (spider monkey, howler monkeys, etc.) and great apes (gorilla, orangutan, chimpanzee and gibbon) . Of the three great apes: the gorilla, the orangutan, and the chimpanzee, the chimpanzee is the most human-like. This monkey is smaller than both the gorilla and the orangutan, but more “intelligent” than them. The body of a chimpanzee, devoid of a tail, is very similar to a human.
True, chimpanzees have 13 pairs of ribs, while humans usually have 12 pairs. The dark skin of the chimpanzee is covered everywhere except on the palms and face with coarse black hair. Chimpanzees live in small groups in the forests of Central Africa, east of Sierra Leone to Lake Victoria. They are very easy to tame and take root well in the zoo. Sometimes they become so attached to their favorite caretakers that they even cry and call them when they are sick!
Chimpanzee scholars claim that there are at least 20 different sounds that can be classified as "chimpanzee language". On the ground, chimpanzees move on four legs, leaning on the ground with their knuckles to support the body. A male chimpanzee can weigh up to 70 kg and reach a height of 1.5 m, although most chimpanzees are slightly smaller.
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Monkey (anthropoid, the highest primate) is a mammal that is closest in structure to humans, belongs to the order of primates, the suborder of dry-nosed primates, the infraorder monkey-like (Simiiformes).
The origin of the Russian word "monkey" is quite interesting. Until the 16th century, the monkey in Russia was called "opitsa" - just as the Czechs call it now. At the same time, the Persians called the monkey "buzine". According to one version, Afanasy Nikitin brought this name with him from his travels and used it in his work “Journey Beyond the Three Seas”. According to another version, the monkey got its name from the word "abuzina". At the same time, Ushakov's dictionary specifies that "abuzina" is translated from Arabic as "father of fornication."
- common chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes)
a species of monkey whose habitat covers the forested areas of the tropics and humid savannahs of the African continent, especially its western and central parts. Sexually mature male chimpanzees reach a height of 140-160 cm, and monkeys weigh in the range of 65-80 kg. Females weigh 40-50 kg with a height of 120-130 cm. The body of animals is covered with very coarse, hard wool of a dark brown hue. Near the mouth and on the coccyx, the coat is partially white, but the feet, palms and muzzle of the monkey are completely devoid of it. Common chimpanzees are practically omnivorous, although the bulk of the diet is still plant foods. These monkeys are happy to eat nuts and fruits, sweet potato leaves and tubers, feed on mushrooms and termites, feast on sweet honey, bird eggs and small vertebrates. It is not uncommon for a flock of chimpanzees to successfully hunt red colobuses (primates from the marmoset family) and even young ungulates, making up for the lack of nutrients with meat. Chimpanzee monkeys are the only primates that can create a semblance of tools that facilitate the process of obtaining food: they skillfully sharpen the ends of sticks and twigs, turning them into an imitation of a spear, use palm leaves as traps for insects, use stones as projectiles.
- pygmy marmoset ( Cebuella pygmaea)
it is the smallest monkey in the world. Adults grow up to 10-15 cm in length and weigh from 100 to 150 g. They inhabit the forests of South America and feed mainly on tree sap.
Reproduction of monkeys in nature
Monkeys are social animals and prefer to stay in packs led by a dominant male and consisting of several females with offspring. Monkey breeding occurs all year round and has individual characteristics for each species.
The puberty of monkeys comes to 7-8 years. Some species form strong monogamous families for life. Other types of females, such as capuchins, mate with several males, and vice versa.
In such groups, cases of infanticide are not uncommon, when male monkeys kill cubs born by a female from another male, because a nursing mother is not able to become pregnant.
The pregnancy of a monkey, depending on the species, lasts from 6 to 8.5 months, usually 1 cub is born, although marmosets often bring twins.
Breastfeeding in different species of monkeys has different periods, female gorillas feed their cubs with milk up to 3.5 years and, accordingly, give birth every 4 years. Although, some species of monkeys bring offspring every year.
Most female monkeys are caring and loving mothers, tenderly protecting their cubs. While the babies are growing up, the mother occasionally goes hunting, leaving the cub in the care of other female caregivers.
Young monkeys leave the group when they reach sexual maturity. Individuals of some species wander alone for a long time, others quickly create their own harems.
Despite the fact that monkeys are wild animals, they quickly get used to living in captivity and, with proper care, do well in zoos. These cute little animals are favorites of the spectators of circus performances: due to their well-developed intellect, they are easy to train, despite their not very submissive disposition. Some daredevils keep monkeys at home, although this usually does not last long. Funny animals are terrible fidgets and mischievous people, ready to be constantly on the move and make havoc in the owner's home.
If you still decide on such a pet, keep in mind: it is desirable to keep a monkey at home in a spacious cage, or it is better to allocate a separate room for it to live in order to eliminate the eternal mess in the apartment. A pet monkey can be fed fish and chicken or turkey meat, boiled eggs and cereal grains, fresh fruits, nuts, vegetables and insects (bugs, grasshoppers, caterpillars).
Do not forget that almost all monkeys have an aggressive nature, which is associated with natural instincts, and sometimes it is impossible to keep track of a change in their mood.
And one more nuance: you are unlikely to be able to teach a monkey to “do its own thing” in a tray, so be prepared to clean up after it often, using means to remove unpleasant odors and disinfect.
- The intelligence of monkeys is no longer in doubt. In the course of an experiment conducted by one of the American universities, the female gorilla was able to learn a certain number of words from the language of the deaf and dumb, after which the animal began to communicate quite adequately with people.
- Some species of monkeys are very clean and devote a fifth of the day to caring for their appearance.
- During the entire existence of astronautics, 32 monkeys flew into space.
- Night monkeys are the only family of primates that are nocturnal. During the day, they rest in the hollows of trees, and 15 minutes after sunset, they are actively going about their business until midnight. Then they rest again for about 2 hours and again go in search of food before dawn.
- Capuchins are considered to be the smartest monkeys in America. Before eating a nut, they crack the shell with stones or sharp tree branches. And before eating a frog, they wipe mucus from it on the bark of trees.
- Spider monkeys can only hang from a branch with their tail, without using their limbs.
