Monkeys are divided into two geographically separate groups – the New World Monkeys of South America and the Old World Monkeys, found in Africa and Asia.
The Old World monkeys include some terrestrial species such as the baboons, while New World monkeys are exclusively arboreal.
Some species of New World monkeys have a prehensile tail that can be used like a hand or finger to grasp hold of things such as food, branches and twigs.
There are 264 known species of monkey which consists of both Old World monkeys and New World monkeys.
Because monkeys do not belong to one single group, monkeys do not have any single traits which they all share and they do not share any traits with the remaining group of simians which are the apes.
New World Monkeys include such species as the Marmosets, Spider Monkey, Red Howler Monkey and the Titi Monkey.
Old World Monkeys include such species as the Rhesus Macaque, Hamadryas Baboon and the Black Colobus Monkey.
Although both the New World monkeys and the Old World monkeys, like the apes, have forward facing eyes, the faces of Old World monkeys and New World monkeys look very different, though again, each group shares some features such as the shape of noses, cheeks and rumps.
Monkeys range in size from the Pygmy Marmoset, at 14 – 16 centimetres (5 – 6 inches) long (including their tail) and 120 – 140 grams (4 – 5 ounces) in weight, to the male Mandrill which measures almost 1 metre (3 feet) in length and weighs 35 kilograms (75 pounds). Some monkeys are arboreal (living in trees), some live on the savannah. Monkeys diets differ among the various species, however, they may contain any of the following: fruit, leaves, seeds, nuts, flowers, insects, spiders, eggs and small animals.
The Prosimian group is a sub-order of monkeys, very distinct from the anthropoids (sub-order anthropoidea, including monkeys, apes and humans). The prosimian category includes Lemurs, Lorises, and Tarsiers, small creatures of the tropical forest who may most resemble our earliest ancestors.
Prosimians are restricted to tropical woodlands. Many surviving species have become nocturnal, a habit that has been acquired because they have become withdrawn by competition from monkeys and rodents.
List of Common Types of Monkey Species
Chacma Baboon
Common Marmoset
Common Squirrel Monkey
Cotton-top Tamarin
Crab-eating Macaque
De Brazza’s Monkey
Drill
Dusky Leaf Monkey
Formosan Rock Macaque
Francois’ Leaf Monkey
Gelada
Vervet
Mandrill
Gibbon
Golden Monkey
Allen’s Swamp Monkey
Black Howler
Black Lion Tamarin
Black Snub-nosed Monkey
Black-and-white Colobuses
Black-handed Spider Monkey
Blue Monkey
Brown-mantled Tamarin
Celebes Crested Macaque
Central American Squirrel Monkey
Golden snub-nosed monkey
Green Monkey
Grivet
Guenon
Guinea Baboon
Kipunji
Mantled Guereza
Mantled Howler
Northern Plains Gray Langur
Olive Baboon
Proboscis Monkey
Pygmy Marmoset
Red-faced Spider Monkey
Red-shanked Douc
Rhesus Mmacaque
Silvery Lutung
Sooty Mangabey
Southern Pig-tailed Macaque
Stump-tailed Macaque
Tufted Capuchin
Venezuelan Red Howler
White-faced Saki
Yellow Baboon
Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey
