35 Amazing Facts about Monkeys

Amazing facts about monkeys

1.  Two out of three groups of simian primates are monkeys, which are Old World Monkeys and New World Monkeys. Apes is the other group.

2.  To communicate, monkeys use facial expressions, vocalizations and body movements.

3.  Apes and spider monkeys swing arm-to-arm in trees, rest of the monkeys do not, they run across branches.

4.  Head bobbing, grinning, pulling the lip and yawning are some signs of aggression in monkeys.

5.  Monkeys make peace and express affection with others by grooming each other.

6.  Group of monkeys is called a troop.

7.  Trees, grasslands, mountains, forests and high plains are the most common places where monkeys live.

8.  The Pygmy Marmoset is the world’s smallest monkey, according to sources.  It weighs 85 to 140 grams and measures 117-159 millimeters.

9.  The largest monkey is the male Mandrill, which weighs almost 35 kilograms and 1 meter long.

10.  Monkeys carry hepatitis, tuberculosis, and simian herpes B.

11.  Most of the monkeys eat both plants and animals, some monkeys also eat dirt.

12.  New world monkeys have 36 teeth, where as the Old World monkeys have 32 teeth.

13.  Capuchin monkeys are very careful and intelligent. To identify different types of predators, Capuchin monkeys use different vocal sounds.Some organizations train Capuchin monkeys as service animals to assist quadriplegics and other people with severe spinal cord injuries or mobility impairments.

14.  Capuchin monkeys are skilled tool users, they insert branches into crevices to capture food, smash nuts with rocks, remove hairs and spines from caterpillars by rubbing against a branch.

15.  South American Titi monkeys are monogamous.  They become distressed when separated and mate for life.  They show affection by lip smacking, cuddling, nuzzling, holding hands, grooming each other.

16.  The loudest monkeys are Howler monkeys, their howls can be heard for about three miles in open area and two miles in the forest.  They spend 80% of their time resting.

17.  The only free-living species of monkey in Europe is the Barbary Macaque.

18.  Certain Red Colobus species and the Olive Colobus monkey are hunted by humans and chimpanzees for food.

19.  Squirrel monkeys produce more than 20 vocalizations.

20.  Adult male guenon monkeys  sometimes rush after eagles which have caught a family member.

21.  By urinating on subordinates, Male Squirrel monkeys assert dominance.

22.  Silvered Leaf monkeys are silver to dark grey in color, infants are bright orange in color.

23.  Proboscis monkeys are known for the smaller pointed noses of females.  Males have long noses, which grow throughout their lifetime.

24.  New World Monkeys, do not have thumbs, including the spider monkey.  Squirrel monkeys and Capuchins have pseudo-opposable thumbs, they are the only New World Monkeys of this type.

25.  There are 81 species of New World Monkeys in the Amazon basin, as of 2008.  New ones are continually being discovered.

26.  The two sub families of Old World Monkeys are generalists and specialists.  Specialists mainly eat leaves and generalists eat almost everything.

27.  Old World Monkeys have large cheek pouches.  Cheek pouches help them to feed rapidly and store their food, and swallow it later.

28.  96, is the number of species of Old World Monkeys.

29.  Monkeys do not eat the skins of bananas, they peel the skin of their bananas.

30.  It is easy to distinguish monkeys from apes.  Monkeys have tails, apes don’t.

31.  The Old World monkeys live in Asia and Africa, and the New World monkeys live in South America.

32.  In the Chinese(Also read: Amazing facts about China) zodiac, monkey appears as the 9th animal.  In 2016, monkey appears as the zodiac sign.

33.  The miniature spider monkey has incredible tail, its tail can hold the weight of the whole body.

34.  Don’t try to touch a monkey, they don’t like it and they are aggressive.

35.  Monkeys are intelligent animals(Also read:Amazing facts about animals), they have an IQ of 174.

Also read: Amazing facts about dogs and Amazing facts about cats