Old World monkey

Old World monkeys[1]
Temporal range: Oligocene–Recent
Olive baboon (Papio anubis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Parvorder: Catarrhini
Superfamily: Cercopithecoidea
Gray, 1821[2]
Family: Cercopithecidae
Gray, 1821[2]
Type genus
Cercopithecus
Linnaeus, 1758
Subfamilies

Cercopithecinae – 13 genera
Colobinae – 10 genera
sister: Hominoidea

The distribution and density of Old World monkey species

Old World monkeys are primates in the family Cercopithecidae (/ˌsɜːrkoʊpɪˈθɛsɪdiː/). Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family. Old World monkey genera include baboons (genus Papio), red colobus (genus Piliocolobus), and macaques (genus Macaca). Common names for other Old World monkeys include the talapoin, guenon, colobus, douc (douc langur, genus Pygathrix), vervet, gelada, mangabey (a group of genera), langur, mandrill, drill, surili (Presbytis), patas, and proboscis monkey.

Phylogenetically, they are more closely related to apes than to New World monkeys, with the Old World monkeys and apes diverging from a common ancestor between 25 million and 30 million years ago.[3] This clade, containing the Old World monkeys and the apes, diverged from a common ancestor with the New World monkeys around 45 to 55 million years ago.[4][need quotation to verify] The individual species of Old World monkey are more closely related to each other than to apes or any other grouping, with a common ancestor around 14 million years ago.[5]

The smallest Old World monkey is the talapoin, with a head and body 34–37 centimetres (13–15 in) in length, and weighing between 0.7 and 1.3 kilograms (1.5 and 2.9 lb). The largest is the male mandrill, around 70 centimetres (28 in) in length, and weighing up to 50 kilograms (110 lb)[6] Old World monkeys have a variety of facial features; some have snouts, 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, savannas, shrublands, and mountainous terrain. They inhabited much of Europe in the past; today, the only survivors in Europe are the Barbary macaques of Gibraltar. Whether they were native to Gibraltar or were brought by humans is unknown.

Some Old World monkeys are arboreal, such as the colobus monkeys; others are terrestrial, such as the baboons. Most are at least partially omnivorous, 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 item available, such as flowers, leaves, bulbs and rhizomes, insects, snails, small mammals,[6] and garbage and handouts from humans.

  1. ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 152–178. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b Gray, J.E. (1821). "On the natural arrangement of vertebrose animals". London Medical Repository. 15 (1): 296–310.
  3. ^ Palmer, Chris; magazine, Nature. "Fossils Indicate Common Ancestor for Old World Monkeys and Apes". Scientific American. Retrieved 11 December 2023. 25 million to 30
  4. ^ Perez, S.I.; Tejedor, M.F.; et al. (June 2013). "Divergence times and the evolutionary radiation of New World monkeys (Platyrrhini, Primates): an analysis of fossil and molecular data". PLOS ONE. 8 (6): e68029. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...868029P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068029. PMC 3694915. PMID 23826358.
  5. ^ Dawkins, Richard (2004). The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 138. ISBN 9780618619160.
  6. ^ a b Brandon-Jones, Douglas & Rowell, Thelma E. (1984). Macdonald, D. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 370–405. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.