Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of
the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group
now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that
sense, constitute an incomplete paraphyletic grouping; alternatively, if apes
(Hominoidea) are included, monkeys and simians are synonyms.
In 1812, Étienne Geoffroy grouped the apes and the Cercopithecidae group of monkeys
together and established the name Catarrhini, "Old World monkeys" ("singes de
l'Ancien Monde" in French).[3][4][5] The extant sister of the Catarrhini in the monkey
("singes") group is the Platyrrhini (New World monkeys).[3] Some nine million years
before the divergence between the Cercopithecidae and the apes,[6] the Platyrrhini
emerged within "monkeys" by migration to South America from Afro-Arabia (the Old
World), [citation needed][7][8] likely by ocean.[9][10][better source needed] Apes are thus deep in the tree of extant
and extinct monkeys, and any of the apes is distinctly closer related to the
Cercopithecidae than the Platyrrhini are.
Many monkey species are tree-dwelling (arboreal), although there are species that live
primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Most species are mainly active during the
day (diurnal). Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent, especially the Old
World monkeys.
Within suborder Haplorhini, the simians are a sister group to the tarsiers – the two
members diverged some 70 million years ago.[11] New World monkeys and catarrhine
monkeys emerged within the simians roughly 35 million years ago. Old World monkeys
and apes emerged within the catarrhine monkeys about 25 million years ago. Extinct
basal simians such as Aegyptopithecus or Parapithecus (35–32 million years ago) are
also considered monkeys by primatologists.[9][12][13][14][15][16]
Lemurs, lorises, and galagos are not monkeys, but strepsirrhine primates (suborder
Strepsirrhini). The simians' sister group, the tarsiers, are also haplorhine primates;
however, they are also not monkeys.[citation needed]
Apes emerged within monkeys as sister of the Cercopithecidae in the Catarrhini, so
cladistically they are monkeys as well. However, there has been resistance to directly
designate apes (and thus humans) as monkeys, so "Old World monkey" may be taken
to mean either the Cercopithecoidea (not including apes) or the Catarrhini (including
apes).[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] That apes are monkeys was already realized by Georges-Louis
Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in the 18th century.[26] Linnaeus placed this group in 1758
together with the tarsiers, in a single genus "Simia" (sans Homo), an ensemble now
recognised as the Haplorhini.[27]
Monkeys, including apes, can be distinguished from other primates by having only two
pectoral nipples, a pendulous penis, and a lack of sensory whiskers.[28][better source needed]
Historical and modern terminology
The Barbary macaque is also known as the Barbary ape.
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word "monkey" may originate in
a German version of the Reynard the Fox fable, published c. 1580. In this version of the
fable, a character named Moneke is the son of Martin the Ape.[29] In English, no clear
distinction was originally made between "ape" and "monkey"; thus the
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica entry for "ape" notes that it is either a synonym for
"monkey" or is used to mean a tailless humanlike primate.[30] Colloquially, the terms
"monkey" and "ape" are widely used interchangeably.[31][32] Also, a few monkey species
have the word "ape" in their common name, such as the Barbary ape.
Later in the first half of the 20th century, the idea developed that there were trends
in primate evolution and that the living members of the order could be arranged in a
series, leading through "monkeys" and "apes" to humans.[33] Monkeys thus constituted a
"grade" on the path to humans and were distinguished from "apes".
Scientific classifications are now more often based on monophyletic groups, that is
groups consisting of all the descendants of a common ancestor. The New World
monkeys and the Old World monkeys are each monophyletic groups, but their
combination was not, since it excluded hominoids (apes and humans). Thus, the term
"monkey" no longer referred to a recognized scientific taxon. The smallest accepted
taxon which contains all the monkeys is the infraorder Simiiformes, or simians. However
this also contains the hominoids, so that monkeys are, in terms of currently recognized
taxa, non-hominoid simians. Colloquially and pop-culturally, the term is ambiguous and
sometimes monkey includes non-human hominoids.[34] In addition, arguments have been
made for a monophyletic usage of the word "monkey" from the perspective that usage
should reflect cladistics.[21][35][36][37][38]
Several science-fiction and fantasy stories have depicted non-human (fantastical or
alien) antagonistic characters refer to humans as monkeys, usually in a derogatory
manner, as a form of metacommentary.[39]
A group of monkeys may be commonly referred to as a tribe or a troop.[40]
Two separate groups of primates are referred to as "monkeys": New World
monkeys (platyrrhines) from South and Central America and Old World monkeys
(catarrhines in the superfamily Cercopithecoidea) from Africa and
Asia. Apes (hominoids)—consisting
of gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos, and humans—are also
catarrhines but were classically distinguished from monkeys.[41][9][42][43] Tailless monkeys
may be called "apes", incorrectly according to modern usage; thus the tailless Barbary
macaque is historically called the "Barbary ape".[32]
Description
As apes have emerged in the monkey group as sister of the old world monkeys,
characteristics that describe monkeys are generally shared by apes as well. Williams et
al. outlined evolutionary features, including in stem groupings, contrasted against the
other primates such as the tarsiers and the lemuriformes.[44]
Monkeys range in size from the pygmy marmoset, which can be as small as 117 mm
(4+5⁄8 in) with a 172 mm (6+3⁄4 in) tail and just over 100 g (3+1⁄2 oz) in weight,[45] to the
male mandrill, almost 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long and weighing up to 36 kg (79 lb).[46] Some
are arboreal (living in trees) while others live on the savanna; diets differ among the
various species but may contain any of the following: fruit, leaves, seeds, nuts, flowers,
eggs and small animals (including insects and spiders).[47]
Some characteristics are shared among the groups; most New World monkeys have
long tails, with those in the Atelidae family being prehensile, while Old World monkeys
have non-prehensile tails or no visible tail at all.[32] Old World monkeys
have trichromatic color vision like that of humans, while New World monkeys may be
trichromatic, dichromatic, or—as in the owl monkeys and greater galagos—
monochromatic. Although both the New and Old World monkeys, like the apes, have
forward-facing eyes, the faces of Old World and New World monkeys look very
different, though again, each group shares some features such as the types of noses,
cheeks and rumps.[47]
