97 Fun Facts About Monkey

What do most monkeys have that apes lack?

The Old World monkey family name literally means 'tailed ape'; the apes are the tailless ones.

Roughly what share of primate species are threatened with extinction?

A 2017 review of 504 primate species found about 60% threatened with extinction and roughly 75% with declining populations, driven by deforestation, hunting and the pet trade.

Which of these primate groups is classified as an Old World monkey?

Langurs belong to the Old World subfamily Colobinae alongside the colobuses and snub-nosed monkeys; marmosets, spider monkeys and squirrel monkeys are all New World species.

Which of the following is an example of a New World monkey species?

Titis are New World monkeys of the family Pitheciidae, alongside sakis and uakaris; they live in South American forests in monogamous pairs that often sit with tails intertwined.

New World monkeys, found in tropical regions from Mexico southwards, are mostly concentrated on which continent?

South America holds most of the five New World monkey families, which descend from African simians and range from Mexico through Central America.

What is the primary function of a prehensile tail for many monkey species?

A prehensile tail is adapted to grasp or hold objects, effectively acting as a 'fifth limb' for climbing and foraging.

Which monkey is the world's smallest, at just over 100 grams?

The pygmy marmoset of the western Amazon Basin is the smallest monkey, weighing about 100–120 grams as an adult; it feeds mainly on tree gum.

What is the largest monkey species by weight?

Males have a 70–95 cm head-body length and weigh 19–30 kg, while females are far less stocky.

Which country successfully sent the first primate into space in 1949?

The United States flew the monkey Albert II to 83 miles on a V-2 rocket from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on 14 June 1949; he died on impact when the parachute failed.

How many fingers do most monkey species typically have on each hand?

Five digits on each limb is the primate pattern, each tipped with a keratin fingernail.

Which New World primate is famous for calls that carry long distances through dense rain forest?

Fifteen species are recognized, and they are among the largest of the platyrrhines.

Old World monkeys are native to which continents?

Africa and Asia are the Old World monkeys' native continents, where they inhabit tropical rainforests, savannas, shrublands and mountainous terrain.

A monkey named Imo on Japan's Koshima Island became famous for doing what with sweet potatoes?

Imo later dipped her clean food in salty seawater, and the habit spread through her troop.

Which New World primate's genus name, Ateles, means 'incomplete', referring to its reduced thumbs?

Spider monkeys (genus Ateles) have only a vestigial thumb, hence the Greek name meaning 'incomplete'; they hang by their prehensile tails with long limbs dangling, which earned the 'spider' name.

In the context of space exploration, what kind of monkey was Albert II, the first primate in space?

Albert II, the first primate to reach space in 1949, was a rhesus macaque.

About 300 Barbary macaques, Europe's only wild monkeys, live where?

Gibraltar hosts about 300 Barbary macaques, the only wild monkeys in Europe; the species is native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria.

Which New World monkey family sports claws, not nails, on most digits?

Marmosets also have non-opposable thumbs, tactile hairs on their wrists, and no wisdom teeth.

Which New World monkey genus, Aotus, is named for its hidden ears?

Night monkeys, or owl monkeys, make up the genus Aotus, the only truly nocturnal monkeys; the name means 'earless' because their ears are hidden in fur.

The gelada, or bleeding-heart monkey, lives only in the highlands of which country?

Geladas live only in the high grasslands of Ethiopia's central plateau; adult males carry a bright red patch of bare chest skin, hence 'bleeding-heart monkey'.

With 24 genera and 139 recognized species, which is the largest primate family?

Cercopithecidae, the Old World monkeys, is the largest primate family, with roughly 24 genera and some 140 species from the 1 kg talapoin to the mandrill; its members are closer kin to apes than to New World monkeys.

Which of these animals is classified as an ape, not a monkey?

Gibbons are the 'lesser apes' (family Hylobatidae): tailless, long-armed brachiators of forests from Northeast India to southern China and Indonesia.

Which hands-on behavior between troop-mates reinforces monkey social bonds and rank?

Social grooming is a vital behavior that not only maintains hygiene by removing dirt and parasites but also strengthens social bonds and hierarchy.

Which group includes the smallest of the Old World monkeys?

Talapoins of central Africa have grey-green fur on top and whitish undersides, and weigh around 1.3 kg at most.

Which type of monkey is known for having a prehensile tail, often used as a fifth limb?

Prehensile tails, capable of grasping and supporting body weight, are a distinctive feature of many New World monkey species, allowing them to navigate the forest canopy.

The endangered golden lion tamarin's entire wild range lies within which Brazilian state?

Golden lion tamarins survive only in Atlantic Forest fragments of Rio de Janeiro state, mainly the São João river basin; the species fell to a few hundred animals in the 1970s before captive breeding and reintroduction rebuilt it.

The name 'colobus' comes from a Greek word meaning 'docked' or 'maimed', referring to what feature?

Colobus monkeys have only a stump-like thumb, the 'maimed' feature behind the Greek-derived name; black-and-white colobuses are important seed dispersers in African forests.

Which primate has been observed using stones as tools to crack open nuts?

One population of tufted capuchins strips the husk, leaves the nut to dry for about a week, then cracks it with a stone.

All six baboon species are native to which continent?

All six baboons — hamadryas, Guinea, olive, yellow, Kinda and chacma — are native to Africa, across savanna, woodland and semi-desert; the hamadryas also reaches the Arabian Peninsula.

What is the primary food of most spider monkeys?

They forage in the high canopy 25 to 30 m up and need large tracts of undisturbed moist evergreen forest.

Which monkey, a strong swimmer, has partially webbed toes?

The proboscis monkey has partially webbed toes and readily swims the rivers of its mangrove habitat; adult males also sport a large pendulous nose that amplifies their honking calls.

Which food makes up most of a colobus monkey's diet?

Colobus monkeys are known for their folivorous diet, primarily consuming leaves, which they can digest efficiently due to their specialized multi-chambered stomachs.

Vervet monkeys, Old World monkeys native to Africa, are especially studied for which behaviour, which changes with the predator spotted?

Alarm calls that differ by predator are the vervet's claim to fame, and the species also serves as a nonhuman primate model in biomedical research.

What is the main food source of China's golden snub-nosed monkey?

Lichens make up the bulk of the golden snub-nosed monkey's diet, supplemented by leaves, buds and seeds; it lives year-round in snowy mountain forests of central China at 1,500–3,400 m.

The cotton-top tamarin is easily recognized by a long white crest running from its forehead to where?

The cotton-top tamarin's long white crest runs from its forehead to its shoulders; weighing under half a kilogram, it lives in forest edges and secondary forests of northwestern Colombia.

Miss Baker, one of the first two animals the US launched into space and recovered alive in 1959, was which species?

Miss Baker was a squirrel monkey who flew about 300 miles high on a Jupiter rocket on 28 May 1959 alongside Able and was recovered alive; she lived until 1984.

How do some of Japan's snow monkeys beat the winter cold?

In winter the bathing is associated with lower stress levels, and higher-ranking females dominate the limited pool space.

Curious George's creators, H.A. and Margret Rey, fled which city by bicycle in 1940?

Hans and Margret Rey left Paris on homemade bicycles in June 1940, hours before the Germans arrived, carrying the manuscript that became Curious George, published in 1941.

The bald uakari of the western Amazon is instantly recognizable by a bald head and a face of what colour?

The bald uakari's hairless face is a vivid crimson that pales when the animal is ill; it has an unusually short tail and lives in flooded várzea forests of Brazil and Peru.

Which Amazonian tamarin sports a long, drooping white moustache?

The emperor tamarin's sweeping white moustache was likened to Kaiser Wilhelm II's, hence the name; it lives in the southwest Amazon Basin across Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.

Ischial callosities, the hardened pads on the rumps of Old World monkeys, let them do what?

Ischial callosities let Old World monkeys and gibbons sit or sleep upright on thin branches for hours; humans lack them because our large gluteal muscles provide the cushioning instead.

The hamadryas baboon, also called the sacred baboon, was a sacred animal to which ancient civilization?

Ancient Egyptians kept hamadryas baboons in temples, depicted them in art, and mummified them at sites such as Saqqara and Tuna el-Gebel — hence 'sacred baboon'.

What food makes up as much as 90% of the gelada's diet, setting it apart from its baboon relatives?

Grasses make up as much as 90% of the gelada's diet, making it the only primate that lives mainly on grass; it spends much of the day sitting and plucking blades on highland meadows.

Which primate is the fastest runner of them all, reaching 55 km/h?

The ground-dwelling patas of Africa's semi-arid woodlands can hit 55 km/h (34 mph).

Which of these traits is generally NOT characteristic of Old World Monkeys?

Old World monkeys have narrow noses with nostrils that point down, whereas their New World cousins are characterized by flatter noses with nostrils that point to the side.

The squirrel monkeys of genus Saimiri live in what kind of habitat?

Squirrel monkeys (Saimiri) live in the canopy of tropical forests from Costa Rica and Panama through the Amazon Basin, moving in troops of dozens of animals.

Which type of primate is NOT a monkey?

Lemurs are prosimians, not monkeys: all of their roughly 100 species are endemic to Madagascar, and the name comes from the Latin lemures, 'ghosts'.

What is the term for a group of monkeys?

A group of monkeys is called a troop, typically led by a dominant male in baboons and macaques; 'tribe' is another accepted collective noun.

The red-shanked douc, a colourful langur, is native to which region?

The red-shanked douc, with maroon 'stockings', white forearms and a golden face, lives in the forests of Vietnam, Laos and eastern Cambodia, and is endangered by hunting.

The drill, the mandrill's closest relative, is native to which region?

The drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus) survives only in the forests of Cameroon, southeastern Nigeria and Bioko island, and is among Africa's most endangered primates.

Which continent is NOT home to any native monkey species?

Monkeys are native to Africa, Asia and the Americas; Australia has none, its tree-dwelling niches being filled by marsupials such as possums and tree kangaroos.

Which baboon species has the widest range, spanning some 25 African countries?

The olive baboon ranges across a band of about 25 countries from Mali to Ethiopia and south to Tanzania, the widest distribution of any baboon.

What is the general dietary classification for most monkey species?

Most monkey species are omnivores, meaning their diet is varied and can include fruits, leaves, seeds, insects, and sometimes small vertebrates, depending on their habitat and species.

The rhesus macaque, with the widest geographic range of any non-human primate, is native to which continent?

Asia is home: South, Central and Southeast Asia, from Afghanistan through India to northern Thailand, across a great diversity of altitudes and habitats.

De Brazza's monkey is named after a 19th-century explorer of which river basin?

De Brazza's monkey, a white-bearded guenon of central African swamp forests, honours Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who explored the Congo basin and gave his name to Brazzaville.

Which Caribbean island's wild green monkeys descend from animals shipped from West Africa?

Barbados has a large population of green monkeys (vervets) descended from animals brought from West Africa in the 1600s, and they are a common sight at its wildlife reserve.

What are the internal cheek pouches of Old World monkeys such as macaques, baboons and mandrills used for?

Storing food temporarily is the job: the pouches let a foraging monkey gather food fast and carry it off to eat later in a safer spot.

Capuchin monkeys take their name from what?

Capuchins were named by explorers after the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, whose brown robes and hoods the monkeys' dark caps and pale faces resembled.

The gelada is the sole surviving species of which primate genus?

The gelada is the last living species of Theropithecus, a genus whose extinct forms once ranged across Africa and into India and grew far larger than today's gelada; despite the 'gelada baboon' name it is not a Papio baboon.

Digs in Brazil show capuchin monkeys have used stone tools to crack nuts for roughly how long?

Excavated hammer stones and anvils at Serra da Capivara National Park show capuchins have cracked cashews and other nuts with stones for about 3,000 years, the oldest known monkey tool site.

Which species is generally considered the longest monkey, counting body and tail together?

The chacma baboon is often called the longest monkey: adult males reach about 115 cm (45 in) in body length plus a tail of up to 84 cm (33 in).

The Monkey King Sun Wukong is the protagonist of which classic Chinese novel?

Journey to the West, the 16th-century novel attributed to Wu Cheng'en, follows the monk Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India with the mischievous Monkey King as bodyguard and troublemaker.

Where does the Monkey fall in the twelve-year Chinese zodiac cycle?

The Monkey is the ninth of the twelve zodiac animals, after the Goat and before the Rooster; Monkey years include 2016 and 2028.

Which Hindu deity, a devoted ally of Rama in the Ramayana, is a monkey god said to bestow courage and strength?

Hanuman grants courage, strength and longevity to anyone who thinks of him or of Rama, the prince he serves in the Ramayana.

The proboscis monkey is endemic to which Southeast Asian island?

The proboscis monkey lives only on Borneo, mostly in mangrove and riverside forests, in all three nations that share the island: Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.

What colour is a proboscis monkey's face at birth, before it darkens to grey?

Proboscis monkeys are born with a blue face that turns dark grey within about two and a half months and reaches the adults' cream colour by about eight and a half months.

Which country is considered the stronghold of the mandrill?

Mandrill hordes at Gabon's Lopé National Park averaged 620 animals, possibly the largest cohesive groups of wild primates anywhere.

Which naturalist wrote that no other mammal is 'coloured in so extraordinary a manner' as the adult male mandrill?

Charles Darwin wrote that in The Descent of Man (1871); the mandrill's red comes from blood vessels near the skin's surface, and the blue is structural colour from parallel collagen fibres.

Landsteiner and Wiener's 1937 experiments with monkey red cells produced which blood-group system?

The Rh factor is named for the rhesus macaque, whose red cells Landsteiner and Wiener injected into rabbits to raise the antibody; the same species had its genome sequenced in 2007.

Zika virus was first isolated in 1947 from a caged rhesus macaque in which country?

The caged monkey had been placed in Uganda's Zika Forest near Lake Victoria by the Yellow Fever Research Institute at Entebbe, and the forest gave the virus its name.

The famous 2011 'monkey selfie' that sparked a copyright fight was snapped by which species?

The selfies were taken by a Celebes crested macaque on Sulawesi with photographer David Slater's camera; PETA sued on behalf of a monkey it called Naruto, and a US appeals court ruled in 2018 that animals cannot hold copyrights.

Which British prime minister ordered Gibraltar's dwindling macaques replenished in 1942?

Winston Churchill ordered the replenishment in 1942 when only seven monkeys remained, legend holding that British rule of Gibraltar ends if they vanish; new animals were brought from Morocco and Algeria.

Folklore says which English town hanged a shipwrecked monkey as a French spy?

Hartlepool's legend has townsfolk hanging a shipwrecked monkey as a French spy during the Napoleonic Wars; the football club's mascot H'Angus embraced the tale, and the man in the suit was elected mayor in 2002.

The 1925 'Monkey Trial' over teaching evolution in schools took place in which US state?

The Scopes trial was held in Dayton, Tennessee, in July 1925: teacher John Scopes was charged under the state's Butler Act, and the case was deliberately staged to bring publicity to the small town.

Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, cloned in 2017 with the Dolly-the-sheep method, are what species?

The two crab-eating (long-tailed) macaques were born in late 2017 from separate surrogate pregnancies at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai, the first primates cloned by nuclear transfer.

Which Brazilian primates are the largest of all the New World monkeys?

Muriquis, also called woolly spider monkeys, weigh up to about 15 kg and live only in Brazil's Atlantic Forest; the northern muriqui is among the world's most endangered primates.

The black-and-white snub-nosed monkey of Yunnan has been recorded as high as what altitude?

The black-and-white snub-nosed monkey has been recorded up to about 4,700 m in Yunnan's mountains, higher than any other non-human primate, coping with thin air and sub-freezing temperatures.

Most marmoset fraternal twins swap blood cells in the womb, making them what?

Around 95% of twins trade blood through fused placentas, and the chimerism even reaches their germ cells, which is unknown in other primates.

From 1979, the Boston charity Helping Hands trained capuchin monkeys, much like assistance dogs, to help people living with what?

Quadriplegia was the focus, with the monkeys working like mobility-assistance dogs; US law stopped recognising primates as service animals in 2010, and the charity became Envisioning Access in 2021.

The lion-tailed macaque, or wanderoo, a black monkey with a silver mane, is endemic to which Indian mountain range?

The Western Ghats of South India are its only home; both sexes carry the striking grey or silver mane around the face.

Which country launched Juan, a tufted capuchin, on a Rigel 04 rocket in 1969?

Argentina launched Juan from Chamical in La Rioja Province on 23 December 1969 as part of 'Operación Navidad'; the capuchin came from the country's own Misiones Province and was recovered alive.

Martine, launched by France on a Vesta rocket in March 1967, was what kind of monkey?

Martine, a pig-tailed macaque, made a suborbital flight on France's Vesta rocket from Hammaguir, Algeria, on 7 March 1967 and was recovered alive; a second pig-tailed macaque, Pierrette, followed six days later.

Swayambhunath, a hilltop stupa nicknamed the 'Monkey Temple', overlooks which capital?

Swayambhunath sits on a hill west of Kathmandu, Nepal, and owes its nickname to the macaques that roam its grounds; the stupa was re-gilded with 20 kg of gold in its 2010 renovation.

Trained macaques in Southeast Asia have harvested which crop for humans since the 1800s?

Trained macaques in Thailand and Malaysia climb palms and twist off coconuts, a practice documented for centuries; a skilled monkey can pick several hundred a day.

Who voiced Rafiki, the mandrill shaman, in Disney's original 1994 The Lion King?

Robert Guillaume, best known as TV's Benson, voiced Rafiki in 1994; for the Broadway musical, director Julie Taymor made Rafiki female because she felt the story lacked a strong woman.

How many teeth does an adult Old World monkey have?

Old World monkeys have 32 teeth, the same count as humans and apes (dental formula 2.1.2.3); most New World monkeys keep an extra premolar in each quarter of the jaw, giving 36.

Old World monkeys share what kind of colour vision with humans?

Old World monkeys, like humans and apes, are routinely trichromatic; New World monkeys are a mixed bag — many females see three colours while males see two — and owl monkeys see in monochrome.

The word 'monkey' may come from Moneke, a character in a German version of which fable?

In the German version of Reynard the Fox published around 1580, Moneke is the son of Martin the Ape, and his name is one proposed origin of the English word 'monkey'.

The kipunji, the first new monkey genus described since 1923, lives in which country?

The kipunji lives in Tanzania's Mount Rungwe and Udzungwa Mountains; its genus Rungwecebus is named after the mountain, and it announces itself with a low-pitched 'honk-bark'.

The lesula, a blue-bottomed guenon confirmed as a new species in 2012, is native to where?

The lesula lives in the Lomami basin of central DR Congo; locals knew it all along, scientists first saw a captive one at Opala in 2007, and Lomami National Park was created partly to protect it.

Myanmar's snub-nosed monkey earned a nickname for doing what whenever it rains?

Water collects in its upturned nostrils, so locals say it sits with its head down and its face tucked between its knees during downpours.

King Alexander of Greece died of sepsis in 1920 after being bitten by what?

The bite came from a Barbary macaque in the palace gardens at Tatoi as he separated it from his German Shepherd, Fritz; Churchill later wrote that a quarter of a million people died as a result of that bite.

HIV-2 crossed into humans from a virus carried by which West African monkey?

HIV-2 descends from the SIV of the sooty mangabey of coastal West Africa, which is why it remains concentrated there; the more widespread HIV-1 came instead from the chimpanzee form of SIV.

Disneynature's Monkey Kingdom (2015) follows a troop of toque macaques in which country?

The toque macaque is endemic to Sri Lanka, and the film's troop lives among the ancient ruins of Polonnaruwa, where scientific consultant Wolfgang Dittus had studied them for nearly 50 years.

ANDi, the first genetically modified rhesus monkey (2001), carried a gene taken from which animal?

The gene, for green fluorescent protein, came from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria; 224 eggs were injected to produce a single live transgenic monkey at Oregon Health Sciences University.

Which ancient Egyptian god was often depicted as a baboon, sometimes holding up a crescent moon?

Thoth, god of writing and wisdom, was shown as an ibis or a baboon — in baboon form he was A'an, god of equilibrium — and the crescent moon reflects his role as a lunar deity.

Monkey Day, dreamed up by two Michigan State art students in 2000, falls on which date?

Casey Sorrow scribbled 'Monkey Day' on 14 December of a friend's calendar as a joke in 2000, and with Eric Millikin turned it into an annual event now marked worldwide.

A 1930s tour-boat operator released rhesus macaques that went feral in which US state?

'Colonel Tooey' released them in the 1930s to liven up his Jungle Cruise at Silver Springs, Florida; the colony has since spread along the Silver River into the Ocala area.