Monkey

hide

Cebidae Aotidae Pitheciidae Atelidae Cercopithecidae

A monkey is any cercopithecoid (Old World monkey) or platyrrhine (New World monkey) primate. All primates that are not prosimians (lemurs and tarsiers) or apes are monkeys. The 264 known extant monkey species represent two of the three groupings of simian primates (the third group being the 21 species of apes). Monkeys are usually smaller and/or longer-tailed than apes.

The New World monkeys are classified within the parvorder Platyrrhini, whereas the Old World monkeys (superfamily Cercopithecoidea) form part of the parvorder Catarrhini, which also includes the apes. Thus, scientifically speaking, monkeys are paraphyletic (not a single coherent group), and Old World monkeys are actually more closely related to the apes than they are to the New World monkeys.

Due to its size (up to 1 m/3 ft) the Mandrill is often thought to be an ape, but it is actually an Old World monkey. Also, a few monkey species have the word "ape" in their common name.

For more information about Monkey, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with monkeys

results timeline


Africa's rarest monkey had an intriguing sexual past, DNA study confirms

Africa's rarest monkey had an intriguing sexual past, DNA study confirms

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 0

The most extensive DNA study to-date of Africa's rarest monkey reveals that the species had an intriguing sexual past. Of the last two remaining populations of the recently discovered kipunji, one population ...


Evidence points to conscious 'metacognition' in some nonhuman animals

Evidence Points to Conscious 'Metacognition' in Some Nonhuman Animals

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (36) | comments 16

(PhysOrg.com) -- J. David Smith, Ph.D., a comparative psychologist at the University at Buffalo who has conducted extensive studies in animal cognition, says there is growing evidence that animals share functional ...


Monkeys get a groove on, but only to monkey music

Monkeys get a groove on, but only to monkey music (w/ Audio)

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 01, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (7) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- Music is one of the surest ways to influence human emotions; most people unconsciously recognize and respond to music that is happy, sad, fearful or mellow. But psychologists who have tried ...


The flying frog's large webbed feet allows it to glide when falling

Flying frog among 353 new Himalayan species: WWF

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 10, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (12) | comments 1

Over 350 new species including the world's smallest deer, a "flying frog" and a 100 million-year old gecko have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, a biological treasure trove now threatened by climate ...


New evidence: AIDS-like disease in wild chimpanzees

New evidence: AIDS-like disease in wild chimpanzees

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 22, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

An international consortium has found that wild chimpanzees naturally infected with Simian Immunodeficiency Viruses (SIV) - long thought to be harmless to the apes - can contract an AIDS-like syndrome and ...


Small evolutionary shifts make big impacts, study finds

Small evolutionary shifts make big impacts, study finds

Biology / Evolution

created May 20, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the developing fetus, cell growth follows a very specific schedule. In the eye's retina, for example, cones -- which help distinguish color during the day -- develop before the more light-sensitive ...


Early skeleton sheds light on primate evolution (AP)

47-million-year-old fossil could shed light on primate family tree

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 19, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- A 47-million-year-old primate fossil, a purported "missing link" between primates and humans, was unveiled this week in New York. The fossil, formally called Darwinius masillae but nicknamed ...


Scientists discover neurons that 'mirror' the attention of others

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created May 18, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 2

Whether a monkey is looking to the left or merely watching another monkey looking that way, the same neurons in his brain are firing, according to researchers at the Duke University Medical Center.


Novel vaccine approach offers hope in fight against HIV

Novel vaccine approach offers hope in fight against HIV

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created May 17, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 3

A research team may have broken the stubborn impasse that has frustrated the invention of an effective HIV vaccine, by using an approach that bypasses the usual path followed by vaccine developers. By using ...


Monkeys found to wonder what might have been

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 14, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Monkeys playing a game similar to "Let's Make A Deal" have revealed that their brains register missed opportunities and learn from their mistakes.


Brain

Brain cell mechanism for decision making also underlies judgment about certainty

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created May 07, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Countless times a day people judge their confidence in a choice they are about to make -- that they now can safely turn left at this intersection, that they aren't sure of their answer on ...


AIDS: Microbicide gel 'highly encouraging' in lab tests

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created Mar 04, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The dogged search for a vaginal gel to thwart the AIDS virus earned some good news on Wednesday as scientists announced that a cheap, commonly-used compound shielded monkeys from a lethal cousin of HIV.


Opposites attract: Monkeys choose mating partners with different genes

Biology / Evolution

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The world's largest species of monkey 'chooses' mates with genes that are different from their own to guarantee healthy and strong offspring, according to a new research study.


New chameleon species discovered in East Africa

New chameleon species discovered in East Africa (w/ Podcast)

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A new species of chameleon has been discovered in Tanzania by a team of scientists.


Hormone that affects finger length key to social behavior

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (9) | comments 2

The hormones, called androgens, are important in the development of masculine characteristics such as aggression and strength. It is also thought that prenatal androgens affect finger length during development in the womb. ...