What trees do monkeys live on? The largest monkeys in the world

In the language of the indigenous people of Africa - the Luba tribe - "chimpanzee" means "human-like." The truth of this statement has been scientifically proven. Scientists estimate that the evolutionary paths of chimpanzees and humans diverged just 6 million years ago. And today this is the brightest and amazing representative genus of anthropoid primates, genetically and biochemically the closest to Homo sapiens. For example, the similarity between our DNA is almost 90%.

Description of chimpanzee

But the “humanity” of chimpanzees is not limited to DNA similarity.

Appearance

Chimpanzees, just like humans, have blood types and individual fingerprints.. They can be distinguished by them - the pattern never repeats. Chimpanzees differ in height from humans. The largest males do not exceed 1.5 meters in height. Females are even lower – 1.3 meters. But at the same time, chimpanzees are very strong physically and have well-developed muscles, which not every Homo sapiens can boast of.

The structure of the skull is distinguished by pronounced brow ridges, a flat nose and a strongly protruding jaw armed with sharp teeth. The skull is made by nature with a reserve - the brain occupies only half of its volume. The front and hind legs of chimpanzees are the same length. An outstanding feature of the structure of their paws is thumb, which is located at a distance from the others and allows the monkey to deftly handle small objects.

The entire body of a chimpanzee is covered with fur. Nature made an exception for the face, palms and soles of the monkey’s feet. Adolescent chimpanzees have a small patch of dark, thick fur white- in the area of ​​the coccyx. As the monkey ages, the hairs darken and turn brown. This feature allows chimpanzees to distinguish children from adults and treat them accordingly. It has been noticed that monkeys with white “islands” on the tailbone get away with a lot, that is, from their paws. Adult primates do not punish them for pranks and do not demand much. But as soon as the white hairs disappear, childhood ends.

Chimpanzee species

Chimpanzees belong to the genus great apes and are related to gorillas and orangutans. There are two types of chimpanzees - the common chimpanzee and the bonobo chimpanzee. Bonobos are often called “pygmy chimpanzees,” which is not entirely true. The bonobo is not a dwarf as such, it’s just that the structure of its body differs from the ordinary chimpanzee in greater grace. Also, this species, the only one of the monkeys, has red lips, like those of humans.

The common chimpanzee has subspecies:

• black-faced or chimpanzee what - distinguished by freckles on the face;
• Western chimpanzee - has a black mask on its face in the shape of a butterfly;
• Schweinfurt - has two distinctive features: a light face, which acquires a dirty tint with age, and longer hair than its relatives.

Character and lifestyle

Chimpanzee is a social animal, lives in groups of up to 20-30 individuals. Leads a group of chimpanzees common male, in bonobos it is female. The leader is not always the strongest primate in the group, but he must be the most cunning. He needs to be able to build relationships with his relatives in such a way that they obey him. To do this, he chooses a company of close associates, such as security guards, whom he can rely on in case of danger. The rest of the male competitors are kept in fear of obedience.

When a leader “fails” due to old age or injury, his place is immediately taken by a younger and more promising “commander”. Females in the pack also obey a strict hierarchy. There are female leaders who are in a special position. Males pay increased attention to them, and this secures their chosen status. These chimpanzees get the tastiest morsels and the largest number of suitors during the mating period.

This is interesting! Bonobos, due to the lack of aggression in their character, resolve all conflicts within the group peacefully - by mating.

Female chimpanzees are considered to be more docile but less intelligent than males when it comes to learning and training. But they express great affection for a person and do not harbor the threat of aggressive disobedience, unlike males, who are “led astray from the righteous path” by the instinct of dominance. Social image life makes it easier for chimpanzees to hunt, protect offspring, and helps to accumulate useful skills in the group. They learn a lot from each other while living together. Scientists have proven that lonely monkeys have reduced overall health indicators. The appetite is worse than that of collective relatives, and the metabolism is slowed down.

Chimpanzee – forest dwellers . They need trees. They build nests on them, find food, and use them to escape, grabbing branches, from the enemy. But, with equal success, these monkeys also move on the ground, using all four paws. Walking upright, on two legs, is not typical for chimpanzees in the natural environment.

It has been noted that chimpanzees are inferior to orangutans in tree-climbing dexterity, but are superior to gorillas in the cleanliness of their nests. The design of chimpanzee nests is not elegant and is made simply - from branches and sticks, assembled together in a chaotic manner. Chimpanzees sleep only in nests, in trees, for safety reasons.

Chimpanzees can swim, but they don't like it. They generally prefer not to get wet unless absolutely necessary. Their main pastime is eating and relaxing. Everything is leisurely and measured. The only thing that disturbs the monkeys’ life harmony is the appearance of an enemy. In this case, the chimpanzees raise an incredible cry. Chimpanzees are capable of making up to 30 types of sounds, but human speech they cannot reproduce it, since they “speak” while exhaling, and not while inhaling, like a person. Communication within the group is also facilitated by body language and body posture. There is also facial expressions. Chimpanzees can smile and change their facial expressions.

Chimpanzees are smart animals. These monkeys learn quickly. Living with a person, they easily adopt his manners and habits, sometimes demonstrating amazing results. It is a known fact that a sailor's monkey could handle an anchor and sails and was able to light the stove in the galley and keep the fire going.

Living in a group, chimpanzees successfully exchange their accumulated experience. Young animals learn from mature primates simply by observing and copying their behavior. In their natural habitat, these monkeys themselves came up with the idea of ​​using sticks and stones as tools for obtaining food, and large plant leaves as a scoop for water or an umbrella in case of rain, or a fan, or even toilet paper.

Chimpanzees are capable of admiring a flower that does not represent nutritional value, or a close look at a crawling python.

This is interesting! Unlike humans, a chimpanzee will not destroy objects and living beings that are useless and harmless to him; rather, on the contrary. There are cases of chimpanzees feeding turtles. Just!

How long does a chimpanzee live?

In harsh conditions wildlife Chimpanzees rarely live past 50 years. But in the zoo, under human supervision, this monkey was allowed to live up to 60 years.

Range, habitats

Chimpanzees are residents of Central and West Africa. They choose tropical rainforests and montane forests with plenty of vegetation. Today bonobos can only be found in Central Africa - in wet forests between the Congo and Lualaba rivers.

Populations of common chimpanzees are registered in the territories of: Cameroon, Guinea, Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and a number of other countries in equatorial Africa.

No animal attracts as much interest from people as monkeys. And all because they are our closest relatives, both physiologically and intellectually. Monkeys form a separate infraorder of Apes in the order of Primates. Among primitive animals, their close relatives are tarsiers, lemurs, tupai, lorises, and bats, and their distant relatives are insectivorous mammals. This relationship debunks one of the most persistent myths about monkeys as the most perfect creatures on the planet. In reality, they only have developed intelligence, which is due to the specifics of their environment, but the physiology of monkeys is at a rather primitive level.

The crested macaque, or crested baboon (Macaca nigra) is the first species of monkey to go down in human history as the author of selfies.

The body sizes of these animals vary over a very wide range: the smallest monkey - the pygmy marmoset - weighs only 100-150 g, and the largest are gorillas, whose weight can reach 140-200 kg. Male orangutans are almost not far behind them, whose weight in rare cases can reach up to 180 kg (their females are much smaller).

Pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea).

It is clear that such a difference in size could not but affect appearance. If you look in monkeys common features, then they are united by a rounded skull containing large brain; small size of fixed ears; brow ridges outlining the eye sockets; large eyes adapted to see in daylight; short mobile neck; muscular long limbs. Characteristically, all monkeys have a clavicle - a bone that allows their forelimbs to move in different directions in contrast to the paws of terrestrial quadrupeds, which are capable of moving primarily in the “back and forth” direction.

In primitive broad-nosed monkeys In the New World, the facial part of the skull is relatively poorly developed, so their muzzles are flat. In the more advanced narrow-nosed monkeys of the Old World, the jaws protrude noticeably forward, for example, in baboons, which do not disdain hunting, this gives an almost canine appearance.

The male hamadryas (Papio hamadryas) yawns to show off his teeth to rivals. Such a grin is often used by baboons to bloodlessly strengthen discipline.

Broad-nosed and narrow-nosed monkeys They are called not so much by the size of the nose, but by the direction of the nostrils: in broad-nosed animals they are set apart, while in narrow-nosed ones they are directed forward. Male proboscis monkeys have a cucumber-like nose - it acts as a resonator, while females of this species have short and upturned noses.

Male proboscis whale, or kahau (Nasalis larvatus).

Rhinopithecus have very short noses with nostrils directed almost upward.

Male black rhinopithecus (Rhinopithecus bieti).

Compared to other animals, monkeys have well-developed facial muscles, since their grimaces perform a communicative function. The vision of these primates is binocular and color, which allows them to quickly determine the distance to objects and accurately identify them. Such vision is vital for the inhabitants of high crowns, who feed on a variety of fruits, leaves, and sometimes small animals.

The monkeys' front paws are five-fingered, with the first (thumb) finger extended, which allows them to grasp tree branches and manipulate objects. To obtain food, monkeys use tools, such as stones, twigs, rolled leaves, with which they break nuts, pull out ants, scoop up water, etc.

Brown black-headed capuchin, or faun (Cebus apella) uses a heavy stone to crush the shell of a hard nut.

However, in some tree monkeys the first finger can be reduced, in which case the paw is used as a hook, that is, the animal hangs on a branch, holding on to it with all four fingers. The hind legs of monkeys also have an extended toe: on the one hand, this allows them to hold on to branches more effectively, and on the other hand, it does not in the least interfere with walking and running on the ground. By the way, monkeys move by resting on the entire surface of their palms and soles, and only great apes (orangutans, gorillas, gibbons, chimpanzees) bend their fingers on their palms when walking, resting on their backs.

Monkeys' fingers end in nails; in small tree monkeys they sometimes have a arched shape, which makes them look like claws from the outside.

The tail is perhaps the most variable organ of monkeys. In great apes and magotes it is completely absent, in pig-tailed macaques it is short and does not play any role in movement, in other species it is long, but functions differently. For example, Old World monkeys use it as a balancer when jumping (and hussar monkeys also lean on it when standing), but among the broad-nosed monkeys there are many species with an extremely prehensile tail. Its lower surface is bare and has papillary lines similar to fingerprints, and the tail itself is very flexible and strong. All this allows its owner to wrap his tail around the branches, literally feeling their surface, and also hang on it. It is not for nothing that woolly, tawny and spider monkeys are sometimes called five-armed, implying that the tail replaces an additional limb for them. True, in the smallest monkeys (marmosets, marmosets, tamarins) a long tail not at all muscular, these species use it like squirrels, as a rudder when jumping.

A tawny monkey (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) with a baby moves along an air bridge between the trees.

Monkeys are characterized by thick hair without undercoat, but at the same time their palms, feet and partly their face are always bare. In some species, other parts of the body are naked: in geladas - the skin on the chest, in all baboons - ischial calluses, in uakari - the skull.

A baboon or yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) showing black calluses. In other species of baboons, these parts of the body are usually red.

Skin color different types can be flesh-colored, bright red, blue, black or even multi-colored, like a mandrill.

The unusual texture of the skin of the Nemean tonkotel (Pygathrix nemaeus) gives it a doll-like appearance.

The fur of monkeys is often colored black, brown, grey colour, few species are characterized by variegated colors.

Nemean tonzoboli are also among the most brightly colored monkeys.

Many species have decorations in the form of elongated hair growing on the head, face, neck, shoulders and forming, respectively, lush hair, a beard and mustache, a “hood”, and a mane. Such decorations can be characteristic only of males (for example, the mane of baboons) or of both sexes (for example, the mustache of the imperial saguina).

Imperial saguins (Saguinus imperator).

In general, monkeys are characterized by sexual dimorphism, which boils down to brighter colors and larger sizes of males. However, it is expressed differently in different species. As a rule, the strongest differences between males and females can be observed in polygynous species with strict dominance of the leader (baboons, proboscis monkey), less clear - in herd monkeys with less aggressive males (gorillas, macaques), and very insignificant - in monkeys living in pairs , where the male and female equally care for the offspring (marmosets, marmosets, tamarins).

Family of Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana).

All monkeys are heat-loving animals that live in equatorial, tropical and subtropical zones Asia, Africa, South and Central America. In Europe, monkeys are known only in the extreme southwest of the continent - on the Cape of Gibraltar. The Magots live here, but they also came to Europe with the help of people from their historical homeland - North Africa. The other northernmost habitat of these primates is located at Japanese islands. Here, Japanese macaques managed to populate even islands with a temperate climate, where a lot of snow falls in winter. True, it is not their skin that helps them overcome the cold, but their intellect - these monkeys have learned to warm up in hot springs, where they spend almost the entire winter day.

Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), while warming up in the water, simultaneously go about their daily activities: eating, picking each other's fur. This group indulges in an afternoon nap.

The favorite habitats of monkeys are dense forests with many fruit trees. A few species have mastered dry woodlands (monkeys), savannas (baboons), and rocky slopes (magots, geladas).

A flock of langurs hides from the torrential torrents flowing down a rocky slope in the Thar Desert. Most monkeys do not like water and even swim only when absolutely necessary.

All monkeys are herbivorous to one degree or another. Some of them adhere exclusively vegetarian diet, eating tree fruits, leaves, young shoots, seeds; these species include orangutans, gorillas, and howler monkeys. Others replenish protein reserves in the body by periodically eating eggs and chicks, small lizards, and crabs. These species include macaques, marmosets, and marmosets. Finally, meat plays a significant role in the diet of baboons; sometimes these monkeys even catch such large animals as baby gazelles and small antelopes.

A baboon with a baby gazelle it killed.

The nature of the diet also affects the lifestyle. Herbivorous marmosets, marmosets and gibbons live in pairs or small families, including close relatives (older children, grandparents). These monkeys are very peaceful, do not like fights, and mark their territory either with urine (marmosets) or with special songs (gibbons).

The common-toed gibbon, or siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus), performs its morning song. The pouch under the throat serves as a resonator for it, amplifying the sound.

Herbivorous orangutans living alone and gorillas with small harems are very calm. But these species can stand up for themselves on occasion. In gregarious species the level of aggression is higher. For example, howler monkeys defend their territory and mates with deafening screams, and the calls of these monkeys are the loudest sounds made by animals!

Black howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) guard the boundaries of their territory.

Omnivorous monkeys and macaques are moderately pugnacious, and baboons are even more aggressive. Troops of these monkeys have a male leader to whom all the others obey. Young males can get along with him only under the condition of complete submission, otherwise they will have to learn the power of his bites the hard way. Females play the role of powerless concubines, the fate of each of them depends on the taste of the leader: the favorites receive maximum care and food, the rest are forced to be content with the leftovers from the table of the stronger and luckier ones. In chimpanzees, intra-pack aggression is relieved either by sexual contact or by organized war against another pack. In the latter case, the winners can taste the meat of the vanquished. By the way, chimpanzees are the only monkeys that hunt other monkeys. And we are talking not only about clan disagreements, but also about monkeys that regularly get in the teeth of their larger “brethren.”

Two male baboons got into a fight. The teenagers felt who would win, and immediately supported the strong one. Although their participation in combat is symbolic, such training will allow them to gain the necessary experience and confidence to aspire to leadership in the future.

Regardless of the level of relationships within the troop, communication between monkeys is accompanied by complex forms of behavior. These animals are not alien to such feelings as friendship, love, envy, resentment, rancor, cunning, anger, sorrow and empathy.

This female chacma, or bear baboon (Papio ursinus), died of a cub, but even after its death she continues to carry the baby’s body on her back until the corpse is completely decomposed.

In case of danger, their calls not only indicate an approaching threat, but precisely identify it: there are separate calls indicating a leopard, poisonous snakes, python, monkey-eating eagle, armed and unarmed man. Thus, monkeys speak primitive speech, which at least contains nouns. In captivity, monkeys cannot reproduce human speech due to differences in the structure of the vocal cords, but they are quite capable of mastering the language of gestures or signals.

Gorilla Koko, who speaks sign language, explained to her keepers that she wanted to have a baby. But since the scientists did not allow her to mate, their ward was allowed to adopt the kitten. Coco was very attached to her adopted baby and cried when she had to be separated from him.

Monkeys do not have a specific breeding season. Mating occurs all year round. The female usually gives birth to one baby, rarely - two (twins are more common in tamarins). The newborn is born sighted, covered with short hair, but helpless. At first he hangs on his mother’s stomach, and later moves onto her back. Childbirth occurs in a flock and attracts increased attention to the young mother, her social status increases for some time. Male marmosets and tamarins give birth to females and even eat the placenta; subsequently they take the most Active participation in raising offspring: they carry the baby on themselves, and give it to the mother only for feeding time. Males of other monkeys take care of the young, allowing babies and teenagers more than is allowed to ordinary members of the troop, but special attention They do not show this to their own children. The childhood of monkeys is relatively long, which is due to complex forms of behavior - in order to gain the necessary experience, babies will have to watch adults for a long time and play with each other.

Baby gorillas and chimpanzees study together the world. Although such a meeting is impossible in nature, in captivity the kids quickly found a common language.

In large monkeys natural enemies no, only chimpanzees, as stated above, can die from the paws and stones of a neighboring flock. The situation is different for medium and small monkeys. Their enemies are first of all wild cats(leopard, jaguar, less often - lion or tiger), all kinds of snakes, especially pythons and boa constrictors. At a watering hole, they can fall into the mouth of a crocodile. In South America and on the islands of the Philippine archipelago, monkey-eating eagles hunt monkeys. Their name eloquently makes it clear that they have achieved perfection in the business of catching primates. However, danger from the air can lurk for monkeys in other parts of the world, where they can be attacked by kites, hawks and crowned eagles.

A crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) caught a monkey.

Monkeys are susceptible to human infections such as tonsillitis, flu, tuberculosis, herpes, hepatitis, rabies, measles, so in areas of mass tourism they are protected from contact with outsiders.

This baby gorilla was rescued from the hands of animal traffickers in the Congo. While the orphan gets used to his new home, workers at the rehabilitation center wear masks so as not to infect the baby with human infections.

But the human impact on these animals is not limited to just passive transmission of infections. For a long time, people have hunted monkeys: the natives ate their meat, more developed peoples simply destroyed them as pests Agriculture, raiding fields and plantations, white colonialists killed gverets for their beautiful fur, gorillas' paws were used to make souvenirs. Finally, with the advent of fashion for “love of animals,” many species of monkeys became desirable pets. Thousands of poachers around the world began to satisfy this demand, catching monkeys in the wild for resale. As a result, many species of monkeys are on the verge of extinction and are listed in the International Red Book.

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In any zoo, monkeys are the most popular. If you stand and watch these animals, you will soon see that the behavior of monkeys is very similar to ours.

Monkeys are large and small. The smallest monkey is the pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea), the length of its head and body is about 15 cm. The largest is the gorilla: it grows up to 1.85 m. The tail may be completely absent; however, some monkeys also have a tail that is longer than their body. For example, the body of the gulman (Presbytis entellus) is 50-70 cm long, and the tail is 65-100 cm. Its close relative, the golden-chocolate snub-nosed monkey, has a body length of 50-80, and the tail is up to 104 cm. The marmoset is not only the smallest, but and the lightest monkey; it weighs only 100 g. And the heaviest of the monkeys is the gorilla. An adult male gorilla can weigh up to 275 kg, that is, approximately 3,000 times more than his small relative.

The brain of monkeys is quite well developed. Many have a round head or an elongated muzzle. Eyes are directed forward; ears are most often similar to human ones. The facial muscles are well developed, so monkeys have facial expressions. A particularly important feature in monkeys is their arms and legs, which they use deftly. The tail often serves as another tool for grasping. Under the guidance of researchers, some monkeys even learn to perform complex actions - often requiring some understanding.

Monkeys live in pairs and in small or large groups. They can reproduce throughout the year. They usually give birth to only one baby, which they raise for a long time. The age limit for monkeys is from 10 to 40 years. Biologists divide monkeys into two large groups- on monkeys from the New and Old Worlds. New World monkeys live exclusively in Central and South America. These include about 50 species of medium size. They all live in trees and are active during the day. New World monkeys include Aotus, Cacajao, Pithecia, Saimiri, Lagothrix, Alouatta, Cebus, and Ateles. The largest of them is an arachnid, reaching a length of more than 60 cm and possessing an almost meter-long prehensile tail.

Monkey gycap

Old World monkeys are common in Africa and the southern regions of Asia. In the extreme south of Spain lives the only barbary monkey in Europe. There are about 80 different species of Old World monkeys, including rhesus monkeys (M. mulatto.), baboons, hussar monkeys, langurs (Presbytis) and proboscis monkeys (Nasalis). The Old World monkeys include two other important groups: the lesser apes - gibbons and the great apes - orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees. Along with monkeys from the New and Old Worlds, biologists also include prosimians in this order. They represent a transitional stage between insectivorous mammals and monkeys themselves.

Found in Africa, Southeast Asia and Madagascar lower primates, or prosimians, form 6 families: tupaiformes, lemurs, indrisids, chiropods, lorisids and tarsiers. Prosimians include animals with such exotic names as maki, catta, sifaki, indri, loris, potto or galago. The smallest of the prosimians - mouse lemur, whose body length is 11 cm, weight 50 g. The largest is the indri, which, when it stands on its hind legs, reaches a height of 93 cm. Almost all prosimians are forest dwellers and feed on plants. They sleep during the day and go in search of food at night; They have very large eyes and a developed sense of smell.

Gorillas, especially older males, command respect from any observer. However, despite their size and strength, they are peaceful inhabitants of forests, feeding exclusively on plants. The animals are kept in families led by an old male with a silver stripe on his back. Gorillas' day begins with the fact that they immediately start eating after waking up and eat within 2-3 hours. Around noon they go back to sleep, sometimes waking up to eat again. Towards evening, the gorillas again go in search of food. With the onset of dusk, the leader first begins to build a nest for himself for the night. The rest follow his example. Unfortunately, the future looks bleak for these large apes. No one knows how many gorillas remain in the forests; estimates vary: some naturalists say several hundred, others several thousand.

The mandrill belongs to the monkey family, its close relatives are baboons. He lives in dense forests and wanders there in groups consisting of one adult male and several females with cubs. A group can consist of 20 animals.

The male mandrill has a bright red and blue pattern on its face. Such a motley muzzle is clearly visible among dense trees. And it is important that all members of the group stick together.

Monkeys are small representatives of the Old World monkeys. They have a very long tail, a moderately elongated and rounded muzzle, and small and round ears. The coat is thick and long. Whiskers or a beard often form around the muzzle. There are 15 species of monkeys, and they all live in Africa. The most common species is the green monkey.

"Orangutan" means "man of the forest" in Malay. Orangutans were first described by Western researchers at the beginning of the 18th century. They came to Europe already in 1776. However, for a long time almost nothing was known about the life of orangutans in the wild. Everything changed just recently. Since the 1970s, extensive research programs have been carried out. The large ape roams the dense tropical forests of Asia and lives, in contrast to the gorilla and chimpanzee, alone.

A frolicking baby orangutan

With age, male oratugpans grow large growths on their cheeks in the form of rolls of fat. Orangutans rarely come down from the trees. With the help of his long arms, he deftly jumps from branch to branch. With the onset of evening twilight, it builds itself a large nest of leaves, and often with a roof from the rain, on the fork of branches. This sleeping nest is used only for one night. The next morning the orangutan gets up and slowly moves on. Finding a tree with fruit, he climbs it and has lunch. Sometimes he settles down and takes a nap.

The existence of orangutans is currently under threat. Forests in Indonesia are being cut down, and the "forest man" is rapidly losing his habitat. If serious measures are not taken, orangutans will soon remain only in zoos. Nature reserves located in humid tropical forests, help protect many other species of animals and plants that are at risk of extinction.

Baboons are monkeys with a long snout, which justifies their name "dog-headed". They stay mostly on the ground and only when there is danger they climb onto trees or rocks. Powerful fangs allow adult males to defend themselves from enemies. Even leopards are afraid of them.

While sleeping, baboons retire to the trees, and at dawn they come down again to search for food. They walk around their territory, covering 5-20 km per day. In the evening they again go to rest in the trees. If there are no trees, then they sleep on the eaves of steep cliffs.

Baboons live in large herds of 40-80 individuals, but sometimes you can find a herd consisting of 200 individuals. The basis of the herd consists of females with cubs, and an adult male looks after it. He tolerates growing males in his herd, but keeps them submissive.

The largest of the baboons is the chacma, or bear baboon (Pargo ursinus). In this species, the body length of males reaches 1.15 m, and the weight is 30 kg. Chakma lives in South Africa.

Its close relative is the hamadryas baboon (P. hamadryas), which lives in Ethiopia, northern Somalia, northeastern Sudan and southwestern Arabia. In ancient times, hamadryas were also found in the Nile Valley. The ancient Egyptians highly revered it and dedicated it to the sun god Ra, and animal corpses were often mummified. Mature male hamadryas are adorned with sideburns and a silvery mane (mantle) with hair up to 25 cm long. That is why they are sometimes called “cloak baboons”.

Chimpanzees belong to the family of great apes, their closest relatives are the gorilla and the orangutan. Like both of these species, chimpanzees also live in the forest. In small groups they roam around their territory. In the morning, the monkeys feed for two hours, then rest for half a day, and in the evening they go in search of food again. Chimpanzees spend the night in nests, which they build new ones each time.

Barbary monkey, or magot (Masasa sylvanus)

Magnitude	60-70 cm body length. Shoulder height 45-50 cm. Weight: females up to 12 kg; males up to 15 kg
Signs	A bare, wrinkled face, reddish, thick sideburns on the cheeks, short ears. There is no tail. The fur is thick, long, light brown
Nutrition	Fruits, leaves, grass and roots; in addition, insects, worms, scorpions and small vertebrates
Reproduction	Pregnancy 146-180 days; 1 cub, rarely 2; newborn weight about 450 g
Habitats	Shrubs on rocks and hills at an altitude of 600-2000 m; Algeria, Morocco; in Europe it is found only in Gibraltar in southern Spain (presumably they were brought there)

Primates have always interested people more than other animals. This is largely due to Darwin's theory and anthropological data on certain species. Next, let's look at where monkeys live, their varieties and life cycle features.

general information

There are several hundred species of primates in nature, the most famous of which are apes. The length of a monkey's body can vary from a few centimeters to two meters. As a rule, these animals lead an arboreal lifestyle and live in groups. Omnivorous animals are active during the day. Preferences in plant or animal food depend on the habitat. Where do monkeys live? Let's look at their living environment by family.

Marmosets and galags

The Marmoset family belongs to the smallest species of primates. They are very active and mobile, live in trees, perform all important tasks during the day, and sleep in tree hollows at night. The main food is fruits, seeds, birds and insects. Habitat regions: Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Colombia.

The nocturnal animals of galagos are very active jumpers. The main diet is fruits, other fruits, and invertebrates. Habitat - Africa. These can be either dry regions with thorny bushes or places with a tropical climate.

Family of apes

Next, let's look at where do monkeys that are most similar to humans live and what do they eat? These animals can be short, medium or tall. The mass of animals is, depending on the genus and species, from five to three hundred kilograms. Distinctive features are the massive build of the body, long front and short hind limbs. The head is round in shape with a prominent facial part. They also have a well-developed brain.

Mostly great apes live in tropical forests, lead a diurnal lifestyle, and spend a lot of time in trees. Habitat regions - Equatorial Africa, Southeast Asia and adjacent island territories. Food: fruits of trees, parts of bushes, insects, birds, small animals.

Gibbons

This family is characterized by the following features:

• body length - from 450 to 900 millimeters;
• body weight - from 8 to 13 kilograms;
• original structure with particularly elongated forelimbs;
• primates have an ischial callus;
• animals have thick hair;
• The color of the animals varies from cream to black or brown.

Gibbon families live primarily in tropical forests in trees, feeding on leaves and fruits. Habitat: Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java, Indochina, Thailand, Burma.

Where do dwarf lemurs live?

The largest individuals of these animals reach 460 grams. They live in eastern tropical forests and western drylands. Depending on the region, the animals have a red-brown color or a gray tint. Many of these primates live on the island of Madagascar. Unlike most other monkeys, lemurs are night look life, mainly in trees. They build nests in the form of balls of leaves and use natural hollows as homes. The animals usually feed on fruits and roots.

Tarsiers

Below we describe where (in which country) monkeys of the tarsier family live, which are a transitional link between lemurs and lower species. Features of these animals:

• small size - from 280 to 400 millimeters with a tail 6-25 cm long;
• weight - 150 g (maximum);
• The animals have a relatively large and very mobile head, which can be rotated 180°.
• shortened muzzle;
• eyes - large bulging;
• well-developed heel section;
• the wool is velvety, reddish or gray in color;
• the long elastic tail has a tassel at the end;
• diet - vertebrates, insects, lizards, birds and eggs.

Habitat: Southeast Asia. In this case, a certain species occupies a specific territory (the islands of the Philippine, Sunda and Malay archipelago).

Hands

This family is represented by one species and is listed in the Red Book. Individuals have small sizes, slender and somewhat elongated body, rounded head, shortened facial part. Monkeys have rough, brown or black fur.

Where do monkeys of this family live? Their main habitats are bamboo and mangrove thickets, as well as jungles. Primates are active at night, lead an arboreal lifestyle, sleeping in tree hollows or in their crowns. The main food is insects and larvae. This rare species can only be found in Madagascar.

Monkeys

Features of this family:

• the category includes eight genera of primates;
• some of them are tailless;
• the body type is different - from an elegant light body to a massive and heavy body;
• hind limbs shorter than front legs;
• the hairline is long and silky;
• hair covers the entire body, including the ischium, soles and hind legs.

Where do monkeys live? In the jungle, on open plains, rocky places. Mangroves are the main habitats of apes. Some of them lead an arboreal lifestyle, others move on the ground. During the day, animals are active; at night, they roost in caves or tree cavities. Population regions - Southeast Asia, Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Gibraltar.

Capuchins

This is the most numerous variety primates (11 genera). The animals are medium to small in size and have a long, hairy tail. Some individuals can use it as an organ of touch. The hair of prehensile-tailed primates (capuchins) is thick and uniform in color. The facial part of the head is shortened, the nostrils are clearly separated, and the large eyes have pronounced eyelids.

These representatives of primates are excellent at moving through trees, feeding on plant foods, but they do not disdain insects, bird eggs and other small animals. Capuchins hold prey with the help of their front paws; their muzzle is capable of expressing some emotions. Habitat - Southern and Central America, Argentina, Mexico.

Where does the spider monkey live?

This category of primates lives on tree branches and moves along them with the help of prehensile limbs. Animals live in families of up to twenty individuals, which are also divided into groups of 4-5 representatives. They drive daytime look life, feed on plant and animal food.

Depending on the species, the coat color of arachnid primates can vary from gray to black. The main habitat is Peru, Central and South America, Brazil, Bolivia. Above we looked at where many, many wild monkeys live. It is worth noting that, despite the beauty and visual good nature of some representatives of primates, in fact they can be cunning and very dangerous. In our country, you can see monkeys in zoos located in large cities.

Monkey (anthropoid, great ape) is a mammal, closest in structure to humans, belongs to the order Primates, suborder dry-nosed primates, infraorder Simiiformes.

The origin of the Russian word “monkey” is quite interesting. Until the 16th century, the monkey in Rus' was called “opitsa” - the same as the Czechs now call it. At the same time, the Persians called the monkey “elderberry”. According to one version, Afanasy Nikitin brought this name with him from his travels and used it in his work “Walking across Three Seas.” According to another version, the monkey got its name from the word “abu zina”. At the same time, Ushakov’s dictionary clarifies that “abuzina” is translated from Arabic as “father of fornication.”

• Common chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes)

a species of monkey whose habitat covers tropical forests and humid savannas African continent, especially its western and central parts. Mature male chimpanzees reach a height of 140-160 cm, and monkeys weigh between 65-80 kg. Females weigh 40-50 kg with a height of 120-130 cm. The body of the animals is covered with very coarse, hard fur of a dark brown hue. Near the mouth and on the tailbone the fur is partially white, but the feet, palms and muzzle of the monkey are completely devoid of it. Common chimpanzees are practically omnivorous, although the main part of their diet is plant food. These monkeys happily eat nuts and fruits, sweet potato leaves and tubers, feed on mushrooms and termites, and feast on sweet honey, bird eggs and small vertebrates. There are often cases when a school of chimpanzees successfully hunts red colobus monkeys (primates from the monkey family) and even young ungulates, making up for the lack nutrients meat. Chimpanzee monkeys are the only primates capable of creating the semblance of tools that facilitate the process of obtaining food: they skillfully sharpen the ends of sticks and twigs, turning them into imitation spears, use palm leaves as traps for insects, and use stones in the form of projectiles.

• Pygmy marmoset ( Cebuella pygmaea)

this is the smallest monkey in the world. Adults grow up to 10-15 cm in length and weigh from 100 to 150 g. They inhabit forests South America and feed mainly on tree sap.

Reproduction of monkeys in nature

Monkeys are social animals and prefer to stay in packs, led by a dominant male and consisting of several females with offspring. Monkey reproduction occurs all year round and has individual characteristics for each species.

Monkeys reach sexual maturity at 7-8 years of age. Some species form strong monogamous families for life. Other female species, such as capuchins, mate with multiple males and vice versa.

In such groups, there are frequent cases of infanticide, when male monkeys kill cubs born by a female from another male, because a nursing mother is not able to become pregnant.

Pregnancy of a monkey, depending on the species, lasts from 6 to 8.5 months, usually 1 baby is born, although marmosets often give birth to twins.

Breastfeeding in different species of monkeys has different periods; female gorillas feed their cubs with milk for up to 3.5 years and, accordingly, give birth once every 4 years. Although, some species of monkeys give birth every year.

Most female monkeys are caring and loving mothers, tenderly protecting their young. While the babies are growing up, the mother occasionally goes hunting, leaving the cub in the care of other female caregivers.

Young monkeys leave the group when they reach sexual maturity. Individuals of some species wander alone for a long time, others quickly create their own harems.

Despite the fact that monkeys are wild animals, they quickly get used to living in captivity and, with proper care, do well in zoos. These cute animals are favorites of spectators at circus performances: due to their well-developed intelligence, they are easy to train, despite their not very submissive disposition. Some brave souls keep monkeys at home, although this usually doesn't last long. Funny animals are terrible fidgets and mischief-makers, ready to constantly be on the move and cause chaos in the owner’s home.

If you decide to get such a pet, keep in mind: it is advisable to keep the monkey at home in a spacious cage, or it is better to allocate one for its habitat. separate room to eliminate eternal chaos in the apartment. A domestic monkey can be fed fish and chicken or turkey, boiled eggs and cereal grains, fresh fruits, nuts, vegetables and insects (bugs, grasshoppers, caterpillars).

Do not forget that almost all monkeys have an aggressive character, which is associated with natural instincts, and sometimes it is impossible to keep track of changes in their mood.

And one more nuance: you are unlikely to be able to train a monkey to “do its business” in a tray, so be prepared to clean up after it often, using products to remove unpleasant odors and disinfection.

• Nobody questions the intelligence of monkeys anymore. During an experiment conducted by one of the American universities, a female gorilla was taught a certain number of words from the language of the deaf and dumb, after which the animal began to communicate quite adequately with people.
• Some species of monkeys are very clean and devote a fifth of the day to caring for their appearance.
• Over the entire history of astronautics, 32 monkeys have flown into space.
• Night monkeys are the only family of primates that are nocturnal. During the day they rest in the hollows of trees, and 15 minutes after sunset they actively go about their business until midnight. Then they rest again for about 2 hours and again go in search of food before dawn.
• Capuchins are rightfully considered the smartest monkeys in America. Before eating the nut, they crack the shell with stones or sharp tree branches. And before eating a frog, they wipe the mucus off it on the bark of trees.
• Spider monkeys can hang from a branch using only their tail, without using their limbs.