Where Do Monkeys Live?
Monkeys live in most of the warmer areas of the world, including Africa, Asia and South America. There is even one kind of monkey species that lives in Europe.
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Identification
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All of the more than 200 species of monkeys are primates, like humans, giving birth to babies and then nursing them. They live in communities called troops. Those that live on the ground have more tightly organized social rules than the ones that live in trees. Many monkeys use their long tails like a fifth hand to grasp things. Each of their other four limbs ends in a hand-like paw with a thumb.
Features
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The "New World" monkeys that live in South America belong to the cebidae family. They have flat noses and, with the exception of insects and eggs, are vegetarians. Old World monkeys live in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific Islands and are divided into two groups. One group contains the species which can store food in the large pouches in their cheeks. The other group does not have cheek pouches. The latter walk, palms flat on the ground, heels raised, so that they seem to be walking on tiptoe. They usually eat twigs and leaves.
Types
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Some unusual types of monkeys live in South America. The mirikina monkey makes such a terrible noise in the night that the native people nicknamed them devil monkeys. Howler monkeys, the largest of the South American monkeys, also make very loud noises right after the sun sets every evening. They eat twigs and fruit and travel in troops of between five and 20 individuals. The uakari monkey is the only South American monkey that has a short tail. It lives in the Amazon Basin and eats fruit. The South American monkey with the longest tail is the spider monkey. The most common and most intelligent species in South America is the capuchin, or ringtail monkey.
Geography
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Macaques store food in their cheek pouches. Three types of macaque live in India: The rhesus monkey of North India, the pig-tailed macaque from all over India, as well as Malaysia and China; and the lion-tailed macaque of South India. Other macaques include the long-tailed macaque from Burma and the South Pacific islands, and the tocque macaques in Sri Lanka. Besides the macaques, other Old World monkeys include the barbary ape, a cheek-storing monkey native to North Africa that was introduced to Gibraltar, in Europe,the only monkey found on that continent. Three other types of African cheek-storing monkeys are the black ape, honey-loving baboon and the mandrill.
Considerations
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In Africa, there are 80 kinds of guenon onkeys. The long-haired guereza monkey lives in equatorial Africa. In India, the large, yellowish hanuman monkey is considered sacred by certain Hindu sects. Fifty-six types of langur monkeys live in China and India, and the funny-looking probiscus monkey lives on the island of Borneo.
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