The Monkey
In general, any member of the mammalian order Primates, with the exception
of the tree shrews, the lemurs and their allies, the gibbons and apes, and
humans.
Monkeys are arranged into two main groups: those of the Old World tropics,
the catarrhines, with two families, Cercopithecidae (monkeys with cheek
pouches) and Colobidae (leaf monkeys); and those of the New World tropics,
the platyrrhines, also with two families, Callitrichidae (marmoset) and
Cebidae.
Monkeys live in tropical forests, where they move about by using all four
limbs. Except for the largest, such as the baboon and drills, monkeys are
predominantly arboreal, leaping from limb to limb in their travels among
the trees. On ...
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have flattened nails, but those of the marmoset are an exception.
Except for the night-roaming durukuli of tropical America, monkeys are
active during the day, moving frequently in bands in search of vegetation,
birds' eggs, smaller animals, or insects to eat. Monkeys are highly social
animals and are often organized in clans headed by an old male; these clans
are rigidly defined in such species as howlers and baboons.
As in all primates the brain is comparatively large. This feature, combined
with the freeing of the hands and a well-developed vision, allows monkeys a
great latitude of activity. Among the smaller New World forms that have
endeared themselves to humans because of their ingratiating antics and
their tameability are the alert marmosets, often plumed and colourfully
arrayed; the inquisitive squirrel and woolly monkeys; and the capuchins, or
organ grinder's monkeys--all of which exhibit in marked degree the
curiosity and cleverness ascribed to monkeys generally. Other ...
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The Monkey. (2005, November 10). Retrieved March 26, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Monkey/36255
"The Monkey." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 10 Nov. 2005. Web. 26 Mar. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Monkey/36255>
"The Monkey." Essayworld.com. November 10, 2005. Accessed March 26, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Monkey/36255.
"The Monkey." Essayworld.com. November 10, 2005. Accessed March 26, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Monkey/36255.
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