Things You Need To Know About Various Types Of Monkeys
Different types of monkeys all fall under two major groups, the New World primates and the Old World primates with the main difference between the two being their tail. New world primates portray very long, flexible tails that they can hold onto things with while the Old World primates have a short, straight tail or sometimes no tail at all.
Golden Snub-nosed Monkey
These are Old World types of monkeys and found in China's mountainous forests. This species is colorful with their face reflecting almost a pale blue shade and their fur growing very long. They are herbivores and primarily feed on lichens, which are composite organisms that consist of symbiotic, associated with fungus. There are less than 15,000 of these adorable creatures left due to habitat loss.
Black-and-white Colobus
These intriguing Old World monkeys are born completely white and then turn primarily black with age. They are herbivores and feed on leaves, flowers, fruit and twigs. Their habitat consists of riverine forests, wooded grasslands and dense logged forests. Interestingly, they live usually in groups of nine with one male, a couple of females and also their offspring. They play an important ecological role through their sloppy eating habits by dispersing seeds.
Spider Monkey
These are New World types of monkeys, found in Central and South America's tropical rainforests. They have extremely long limbs as well as a long prehensile tails that they can use to either grasp an object with or use to hang from a tree, freeing up their limbs. Spider monkeys primarily consume fruit but they also enjoy flowers, leaves and insects. They are a very social species and will often live in groups of 35 monkeys, only splitting up to explore during the day. These monkeys are said to be the most intelligent of the new World monkeys and unfortunately they are threatened due to habitat destruction.
Night Monkey
Also known as Owl monkeys due to their appearance, they are New World monkeys. They tend to live at much higher elevations and portray thicker fur than those that live at sea level. These monkeys have extremely large brown eyes and are the only nocturnal species. They form pair bonds and only one infant is born each year. It is interesting to note that the mother will only care of the infant for about the first week and the male becomes the infant's primary caregiver.
Patas Monkey
These are ground dwelling, Old World monkeys out of Africa and they are the fastest runner out of all of the primates. They live in groups of many females with just one male who breeds with multiple partners. Patas monkeys enjoy living in semi-desert and open savanna areas rather than dense woodlands and they feed on insects, seeds, gum and tubers.
Drill
Drills are primates of the Old World monkeys and are closely related to the Mandril, who they have a physical similarity to, minus the colorful face. They are only found in a small area around Nigeria and are quickly becoming one of the most endangered mammals in Africa. Sadly, there is believed to be less than 3000 left, primarily due to illegal commercial hunting. A mother of these types of monkeys only has one baby every six years, while a hunter is capable of killing 30 on a good day. They are a colorful monkey with a black face, red chin and their rump is blue, pink and mauve. A single male will reside in a group of 20 females and father babies with all of them. This species is omnivorous, eating a diverse diet from herbs, roots and fruit, to a number of small animals.