Old World monkey is the common English name for a family of primates known taxonomically as the Cercopithecidae (). Twenty-four genera and 138

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma b ...

s (genus ''

Papio Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ba ...

''), red colobus (genus '' Piliocolobus'') and macaques (genus '' Macaca''). Common names for other Old World monkeys include the

talapoin __NOTOC__ Talapoins () are the two species of Old World monkeys classified in genus ''Miopithecus''. They live in central Africa, with their range extending from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Angola. With a typical length o ...

, guenon,

colobus Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subs ...

, douc (douc langur, genus ''

Pygathrix The doucs or douc langurs make up the genus ''Pygathrix''. They are colobine Old World monkeys, native to Southeast Asia, which consists of these 3 species: red-shanked douc, black-shanked douc, and gray-shanked douc. Description The doucs a ...

''), vervet, gelada,

mangabey Mangabeys are West-African Old World monkeys, with species in three of the six genera of tribe Papionini. The more typical representatives of '' Cercocebus'', also known as the white-eyelid mangabeys, are characterized by their bare, upper eye ...

(a group of genera), langur, mandrill, surili (''

Presbytis The surilis are a group of Old World monkeys in the genus ''Presbytis''. They live in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, on Sumatra, Borneo, Java and smaller nearby islands. Besides surili, the common names for the monkeys in the genus also sometimes us ...

''),

patas The common patas monkey (''Erythrocebus patas''), also known as the wadi monkey or hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa. Taxonomy There is some confusion surrounding ...

, and proboscis monkey. Phylogenetically, they are more closely related to

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...

s than to

New World monkey New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboidea ...

s. They diverged from a common ancestor of New World monkeys around 45 to 55 million years ago. The smallest Old World monkey is the talapoin, with a head and body 34–37 cm in length, and weighing between 0.7 and 1.3 kg. The largest is the male mandrill, around 70 cm in length, and weighing up to 50 kg. Old World monkeys have a variety of facial features; some have

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...

s, some are flat nosed, and many exhibit coloration. Most have tails, but they are not prehensile. Old World monkeys are native to Africa and Asia today, inhabiting numerous environments: tropical rain forests,

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

s, shrublands, and mountainous terrain. They inhabited much of Europe in the past; today, the only survivors in Europe are the

Barbary macaque The Barbary macaque (''Macaca sylvanus''), also known as Barbary ape, is a macaque species native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, along with a small introduced population in Gibraltar. It is the type species of the ...

s of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibra ...

. Whether they are native to Gibraltar or were brought by humans is unknown. Some Old World monkeys are

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

, such as the

monkeys; others are terrestrial, such as the

baboons Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma b ...

. Most are at least partially

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

, but all prefer plant matter, which forms the bulk of their diets. Most are highly opportunistic, primarily eating fruit, but also consuming almost any food items available, such as flowers, leaves, bulbs and rhizomes, insects, snails, small mammals, and garbage and handouts from humans.

Taxonomic classification and phylogeny

Two subfamilies are recognized, the Cercopithecinae, which are mainly African, but include the diverse genus of macaques, which are Asian and North African, and the

Colobinae The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. Some classifications split ...

, which includes most of the Asian genera, but also the African colobus monkeys. The

Linnaean classification Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts: # The particular form of biological classification (taxonomy) set up by Carl Linnaeus, as set forth in his ''Systema Naturae'' (1735) and subsequent works. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus ...

beginning with the superfamily is: * Superfamily Cercopithecoidea ** Family Cercopithecidae: Old World monkeys *** Subfamily Cercopithecinae **** Tribe

Cercopithecini Cercopithecini is a tribe of Old World monkey that includes several monkey species, including the vervet monkeys, talapoins, Allen's swamp monkeys and the guenons, all in Africa. Classification * Family Cercopithecidae ** Subfamily Cercopith ...

***** Genus '' Allenopithecus'' – Allen's swamp monkey ***** Genus ''

Miopithecus __NOTOC__ Talapoins () are the two species of Old World monkeys classified in genus ''Miopithecus''. They live in central Africa, with their range extending from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Angola. With a typical length o ...

'' – talapoins ***** Genus ''

Erythrocebus ''Erythrocebus'' is a genus of Old World monkey. All three species in this genus are found in Africa, and are known as patas monkeys. While previously considered a monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that cont ...

'' – patas monkeys ***** Genus ''

Chlorocebus ''Chlorocebus'' is a genus of medium-sized primates from the family of Old World monkeys. Six species are currently recognized, although some people classify them all as a single species with numerous subspecies. Either way, they make up the enti ...

'' ***** Genus ''

Cercopithecus The guenons (, ) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Cercopithecus'' (). Not all members of this genus have the word "guenon" in their common names; also, because of changes in scientific classification, some monkeys in other genera may have co ...

'' – guenons ***** Genus ''

Allochrocebus ''Allochrocebus'' is a primate genus including the terrestrial guenons: the L'Hoest's monkey L'Hoest's monkey (''Allochrocebus lhoesti'') or mountain monkey, is a guenon found in the upper eastern Congo basin. They mostly live in mountainou ...

'' – terrestrial guenons **** Tribe

Papionini Papionini is a tribe of Old World monkeys that includes several large monkey species, which include the macaques of North Africa and Asia, as well as the baboons, geladas, mangabeys, kipunji, drills, and mandrills, which are essentially from s ...

***** Genus '' Macaca'' – macaques ***** Genus ''

Lophocebus The crested mangabeys are West African Old World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Lophocebus''. They tend to have dark skin, eyelids that match their facial skin, and crests of hair on their heads. Another genus of mangabeys, '' Cercocebus'', was ...

'' – crested mangabeys ***** Genus ''

Rungwecebus The kipunji (''Rungwecebus kipunji''), also known as the highland mangabey, is a species of Old World monkey that lives in the highland forests of Tanzania. The kipunji has a unique call, described as a 'honk-bark', which distinguishes it from it ...

'' – kipunji ***** Genus ''

'' – baboons ***** Genus '' Theropithecus'' – gelada ***** Genus ''

Cercocebus The white-eyelid mangabeys are African Old World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Cercocebus''. They are characterized by their bare upper eyelids, which are lighter than their facial skin colouring, and the uniformly coloured hairs of the fur. T ...

'' – white-eyelid mangabeys ***** Genus ''

Mandrillus ''Mandrillus'' is a genus of large Old World monkeys distributed throughout central and southern Africa, consisting of two species: ''M. sphinx'' and ''M. leucophaeus'', the mandrill and drill, respectively. ''Mandrillus'', originally placed und ...

'' – mandrill and drill *** Subfamily

**** African group ***** Genus ''

Colobus Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subs ...

'' – black-and-white colobuses ***** Genus '' Piliocolobus'' – red colobuses ***** Genus ''

Procolobus The olive colobus monkey (''Procolobus verus''), also known as the green colobus or Van Beneden's colobus, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. Its English name refers to its dull olive upperparts. It is the smallest example o ...

'' – olive colobus **** Langur (leaf monkey) group ***** Genus ''

Semnopithecus Gray langurs, also called Hanuman langurs and Hanuman monkeys, are Old World monkeys native to the Indian subcontinent constituting the genus ''Semnopithecus''. Traditionally only one species ''Semnopithecus entellus'' was recognized, but since a ...

'' – gray langurs or Hanuman langurs ***** Genus ''

Trachypithecus The lutungs, langurs, or leaf monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys in the genus ''Trachypithecus'' (derived from Greek , meaning "rough" and , meaning "monkey"). Their range is much of Southeast Asia (northeast India, Vietnam, southern Chin ...

'' – lutungs ***** Genus ''

'' – surilis **** Odd-nosed group ***** Genus ''

'' – doucs ***** Genus ''

Rhinopithecus __NOTOC__ Snub-nosed monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus ''Rhinopithecus''. The genus is rare and not fully researched. Some taxonomists group snub-nosed monkeys together with the genus ''Pygathrix''. Sn ...

'' – snub-nosed monkeys ***** Genus '' Nasalis'' – proboscis monkey ***** Genus '' Simias'' – pig-tailed langur The distinction between apes and

monkeys Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

is complicated by the traditional

paraphyly In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In c ...

: Apes emerged as a sister group of Old World monkeys in the

catarrhines The parvorder Catarrhini , catarrhine monkeys, Old World anthropoids, or Old World monkeys, consisting of the Cercopithecoidea and apes (Hominoidea). In 1812, Geoffroy grouped those two groups together and established the name Catarrhini, "Old ...

, which are a sister group of New World monkeys. Therefore,

cladistically Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived cha ...

, apes, catarrhines and related contemporary extinct groups, such as

Parapithecidae Parapithecidae is an extinct family of primates which lived in the Eocene and Oligocene periods in Egypt. Eocene fossils from Myanmar are sometimes included in the family in addition. They showed certain similarities in dentition to Condylarthra ...

, are monkeys as well, for any consistent definition of "monkey". "Old World monkey" may also legitimately be taken to be meant to include all the catarrhines, including apes and extinct species such as ''

Aegyptopithecus ''Aegyptopithecus'' ("Egyptian ape", from Greek ''Αίγυπτος'' "Egypt" and ''πίθηκος'' "ape") is an early fossil catarrhine that predates the divergence between hominoids ( apes) and cercopithecids (Old World monkeys). It is known ...

'', in which case the apes, Cercopithecoidea and ''Aegyptopithecus'' as well as (under an even more expanded definition) even the Platyrrhini emerged within the Old World monkeys. Historically, monkeys from the "Old World" (Afro-Arabia), somehow drifted to the "New World" some 40 million years ago, forming the "New World monkeys" (platyrrhines). Apes would emerge later within the Afro-Arabia group.

Characteristics

Old World monkeys are medium to large in size, and range from

forms, such as the colobus monkeys, to fully terrestrial forms, such as the baboons. The smallest is the

, with a head and body 34–37 cm in length, and weighing between 0.7 and 1.3 kilograms, while the largest is the male mandrill (the females of the species being significantly smaller), at around 70 cm in length, and weighing up to 50 kilograms. Most Old World monkeys have tails (the family name means "tailed ape"), unlike the tailless apes. The tails of Old World monkeys are not prehensile, unlike those of the

s (platyrrhines). The distinction of catarrhines from platyrrhines depends on the structure of the

rhinarium The rhinarium (New Latin, "belonging to the nose"; plural: rhinaria) is the furless skin surface surrounding the external openings of the nostrils in many mammals. Commonly it is referred to as the tip of the '' snout'', and breeders of cats and ...

, and the distinction of Old World monkeys from apes depends on

dentition Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolog ...

(the number of teeth is the same in both, but they are shaped differently). In platyrrhines, the nostrils face sideways, while in catarrhines, they face downward. Other distinctions include both a tubular ectotympanic (ear bone), and eight, not twelve, premolars in catarrhines, giving them a dental formula of: Several Old World monkeys have anatomical oddities. For example, the

monkeys have stubs for thumbs to assist with their arboreal movement, the proboscis monkey has an extraordinary nose, while the

snub-nosed monkey __NOTOC__ Snub-nosed monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus ''Rhinopithecus''. The genus is rare and not fully researched. Some taxonomists group snub-nosed monkeys together with the genus '' Pygathrix''. S ...

s have almost no nose at all. The penis of the male mandrill is red and the scrotum is

lilac ''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonl ...

; the face is also brightly colored. The coloration is more pronounced in dominant males.Setchell, Joanna M., and Alan F. Dixson.
Developmental variables and dominance rank in adolescent male mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx)
" American Journal of Primatology 56.1 (2002): 9-25.

Habitat and distribution

The Old World monkeys are native to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

today, inhabiting numerous environments: tropical rain forests,

s, shrublands, and mountainous terrain. They inhabited much of Europe during the Neogene period; today the only survivors in Europe are the

s of

Behaviour and ecology

Diet

Most Old World monkeys are at least partially

, but all prefer plant matter, which forms the bulk of their diet. Leaf monkeys are the most vegetarian, subsisting primarily on leaves, and eating only a small number of insects, while the other species are highly opportunistic, primarily eating fruit, but also consuming almost any food items available, such as flowers, leaves, bulbs and rhizomes, insects, snails, and even small vertebrates. The

's diet consists mostly of leaves and roots, though it will also eat insects and uses cedar trees as a water source.Ciani, Andrea Camperio, Loredana Martinoli, Claudio Capiluppi, Mohamed Arahou, and Mohamed Mouna. "Effects of Water Availability and Habitat Quality on Bark-Stripping Behavior in Barbary Macaques." Conservation Biology 15.1 (n.d.): 259-65. JSTOR. Web. 14 Nov. 2012.

Reproduction

Gestation in the Old World monkeys lasts between five and seven months. Births are usually single, although, as with humans, twins occur occasionally. The young are born relatively well-developed, and are able to cling onto their mother's fur with their hands from birth. Compared with most other mammals, they take a long time to reach sexual maturity, with four to six years being typical of most species.

Social systems

In most species, daughters remain with their mothers for life, so that the basic social group among Old World monkeys is a matrilineal troop. Males leave the group on reaching adolescence, and find a new troop to join. In many species, only a single adult male lives with each group, driving off all rivals, but others are more tolerant, establishing hierarchical relationships between dominant and subordinate males. Group sizes are highly variable, even within species, depending on the availability of food and other resources.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Old World monkeys Extant Oligocene first appearances