Monkey
common idea of an animal of the "higher primates" (the simians excluding apes) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monkeys are tree-dwelling (arboreal) simians. They are in the primate order. Monkeys are intelligent, social animals. Monkeys have a tail, even if it is a short one.[2]
Monkeys | |
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Bonnet macaque Macaca radiata
Mangaon, Maharashtra, India | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes [lower-alpha 1] |
Groups included | |
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Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa | |
The word "monkey" is a common-language term. It includes two different groups of primates. The big difference is between Old World monkeys and New World monkeys. Some examples of monkeys are macaques, baboons, and guenons.
- Old World monkeys: Cercopithecidae. Apes are the descendants of Old World monkeys.[3]
- New World Monkeys: Platyrrhini or Ceboidea (same thing in effect)
Both groups are in the infraorder Simiiformes. That infraorder also includes the great apes and humans.[4]
The simians (monkeys) are a sister group to the tarsiers – the two members in the suborder Haplorhini diverged some 60 million years ago. New World monkeys and catarrhine monkeys appeared within the simians roughly 30 million years ago. Old World monkeys and apes emerged within the catarrhine monkeys about 70 million years ago.