15 Types Of Monkeys

Monkeys are generally considered as most sociable, friendly and intelligent creatures. Today, there are about 280 known living species of monkey found on this planet. These species of Monkeys are divided into two main categories: Old World monkeys, which are native to Africa and Asia, and include familiar species such as the langur, the macaque, and the baboon and other is New World Monkeys, which are native to Central and South America, and includes marmosets, capuchins, and woolly monkeys etc. So, here is the list of 15 types of Monkeys,

Types Of Monkeys

1. The Mandrill

The Mandrill is a primate of the Old World monkey belonging to the genus Mandrillus. They are generally found in southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo and they mostly prefer to live in tropical rainforests. However, they live in very large groups and usually feed on fruits and insects. The largest of all the monkeys have different body length in both males and females.

One of the strange African animals can grow upto 75 to 95 centimetres whereas females have a body length of 55 and 67 centimetres. The average lifespan of the monkeys in the wild is 20 years, however, longest recorded lifespan is appoxiameltly 46 years. Talking about the appearance, these types of monkeys are extremely colourful with blue and red skin on their faces and their brightly hued rumps. These colours appear to be darker when the mammal is excited.

Also Read: Top 10 Endangered Animals In The World

2. The Capuchin Monkey

The capuchin monkey is native to Central and South America and is also found primarily in tropical rainforests. Capuchins are considered as one the most intelligent of the New World monkeys. Also, they are named so because of their “caps” of hair, which resemble the cowls of Capuchin monks. However, Capuchins are generally round-headed with fully haired prehensile tails and opposable thumbs. Their body is 12–22 inches long, with a tail of about the same length.

The species has a tail which is equivalent to the length of the body and the body is covered with fur which is white in colour on the face and neck, however, shoulders and other parts of the body are dark browns in colour. They have a similar appearance like tiny Spanish Capuchin monks and hence the name. The lifespan of capuchin monkey is 50 years in captivity. It is one of the most beautiful types of monkeys.

3. Marmoset

Marmosets are small monkeys that live in high altitudes of the dense canopy forests of South America. There are more than 20 well-known species of Marmoset found in the world. However, Marmosets prefer to live in the treetops and have long tails generally longer than their bodies, soft and silky hair and behave much like a squirrel. Also, Marmosets are found in wide variety of colours ranging from black-brown to silver- bright orange.

Talking about the appearance, body of the monkey species has been covered with dense fur that can be greyish, tawny or brownish-gold in colour. The tail is a little longer than the body covered with black rings. The monkey can eat both plant and animal-based food and love to have fruit, nectar, leaves and small invertebrates (insects). The lifespan of Pygmy marmoset is 10 to 12 years in the wild and up to 16 years in captivity.

4. Proboscis Monkey

The proboscis monkey is one of the largest monkey species native to Asia and belongs to the Old World classification of Monkeys. The Proboscis Monkey is also called the Monyet Belanda Monkey, which means “the long-nosed Monkey”. In the Egyptian Culture they were believed to be special to the god and that is why they used to worship them as a very unique animal as its long nose gives it a very distinct feature that separates it from all other species.

Also, The Proboscis Monkey looks really very fat due to their body shape in the stomach region but they generally consume food equivalent to other species. It is known for its big nose and it is believed to attract females because the calls will be louder. The species are excellent swimmers and have partially webbed feet. One of the weirdest looking animals, love to thrive in forests ear in rivers and mostly eat leaves, however, they have been seen eating fruit, seeds and flowers.

5. Rhesus Monkey

The rhesus macaque is one of the best-known species of Old World monkeys which is listed as Least Concerned in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It has a broad range of habitats but is Native to South, Central, and Southeast Asia. Also, the macaque is believed to have the widest geographic ranges of any non-human primate, occupying a great diversity of altitudes and a great variety of habitats ranging from grasslands to arid and forested areas. Moreover, The rhesus macaque is generally brown or grey in colour and has a pink face, which is bereft of fur.

Talking about the appearance, it has four limbs and usually moving using all of them. The face is little pinkish with brown or grey hair. The tail of the species can grow upto 8.1 to 9 inches, however, males have slightly larger ails compared to females. They are both fast crawlers and skilled climbers. Rhesus Monkey love to eat plants, seeds, roots, fruits, herbs, and cereal grains.

6. Howler Monkey

Howler monkeys are one of the largest of the New World monkeys that belongs to the family Atelidae. Currently, there are fifteen recognized species of Howler found on the planet. These monkeys are inhabitant to South and Central American forests. These monkeys are famous for their loud howls, which can travel three miles through dense rainforest and that is why they are named so because of the fact that they are one of the loudest animals in the world.

Also, they have a very long tail that grows to the same size as their body which they can use to pick up items. One of the laziest monkey species known to spend most of their time relaxing and rest of the time love to spend with each other for grooming and enjoyment. It loves to eat leaves, flowers and fruit, so they require a larger area with these to feed entire troops. They typically weigh between 3.6 and 9.9 kilograms.

Related: Top 15 Grassland Animals In The World

7. Japanese Macaque

Japanese Macaque, also known as the snow monkey, is an Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. It lives in areas where snow covers the ground for months each year, hence they got their name as “snow monkey”. They have a brown-grey fur coat, red faces resembling that of a human, and short tails. Also, they are the world’s most northernly living species of Monkey that possesses incredible adaptability to their surroundings and changing seasons.

The Japanese Macaque also has large pouches in its cheeks, in which they can store food upto some extent.
The species vary in size depending on their inhabit and hence animals in the southern part is smaller as compared to the animals living in the northern regions of Japan(colder). The species are omnivores (both meat and vegetation eaters) and love to eat barks, twigs, fruit, insects, eggs and small mammals. They are excellent swimmers and can swim up to half a kilometre.

8. Spider Monkey

Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus Ateles. part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. They are commonly found in the tropical forests of Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to Brazil. The genus contains about seven well-known species, all of which are under threat. They are fairly large in size and have a tail which can often grow longer than their body. The spider monkey mainly feeds on fruits and berries and can be seen hanging in the trees that looks like a spider’s web.

Spider monkeys are known as arboreal animal’s because they spend most of the time on the treetops and rarely seen on the ground. The diet is a complete vegetarian that includes fruit, seed, nuts and flowers, however, sometimes they also eat bird’s eggs and insects. They are mostly seen in groups known as troops and most active during the day and they spend in smaller groups in search of food.

9. Noisy night monkey

The night monkeys, also known as the owl monkeys are the members of New World monkeys belonging to the genus Aotus. They are native to the tropical region of South America. They have large brown eyes and an increasing vision ability to be active at night. Also, they are most commonly found in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, and Venezuela.

Talking about the appearance, Noisy night monkey have unusual coloured faces with light grey or white fur surrounds their eyes and three horizontal black stripes near eyebrows and one common black dot looks clear between the eyes. The large brown eyes help them to see clearly in the night and have a monochromatic vision means they are colour blind. Night monkeys can survive 11 years in the wild and up to 20 years in captivity.

Image Source: Gregory “Slobirdr” Smith (Flickr)

10. Blue Monkey

Blue Monkey is a species belonging to the Old World monkeys and is native to Central and East Africa. Despite its name, the blue monkey is not noticeably blue, rather it has little hair on its face, and this sometimes gives it a blue appearance. The blue monkey is most commonly found in evergreen forests and montane bamboo forests, and canopy forest. It eats mainly fruit and leaves and prefers to live in tall trees which can provide them with both food and shelter.

Additionally known as “diademed monkey” because of the patch of whitish or yellowish fur on the forehead that looks like a diadem. The species is most active during the day and hence known as diurnal animals and love to spend most of the time on treetops (arboreal species). It is an omnivore and loves to eat fruit (especially figs), leaves, insects and small invertebrates. They are mostly seen in troops of 10 to 40 members. A blue monkey can survive 20 years in the wild and more than 30 years in the captivity.

Image Source: Christoph Strässler (Flickr)

11. Squirrel Monkey

The species is one of the smallest members of the primate group. In total, there are 5 species of monkeys that are mostly seen in Central and South America. The monkeys love to thrive in dense tropical rainforests, wetlands, marshes and mangrove forests. Both males and females are of different size, however, on average males are bigger than females. The monkey species are arboreal that is they mostly live on trees and are omnivores. It likes to eat different types of flowers, leaves, buds, nuts, insects, lizards and eggs. The average lifespan of Squirrel monkey is 15 year in the wild and 20 years in captivity.

12. Vervet Monkey

The species belongs to the group of Old World monkeys and there are five subspecies vervet monkeys that can be mostly seen in East Africa. It loves to thrive in inhabit forests, scrublands and savannas and prefers their home near the rivers and streams, however, they can also prefer a human area where they can find ample food. The monkeys spend entire life on trees also known as arboreal animal and they are amazing climber and jumper. It is an omnivore and loves to eat leaves, buds, shoots, flowers, fruit, roots, insects, eggs, grubs and small birds. The average lifespan of the species is 12 years in the wild and up to 24 years in the captivity.

Image Source: Wikimedia

13. Gibbon

One of the types of monkeys is a small ape and its closest relative are gorilla, chimpanzee, orangutan and bonobo. In total, there are 15 species of Gibbon monkey species mostly seen in Southeast Asia (China, India, Burma, Malayan peninsula & Borneo. They love to thrive in dense jungles and tropical rainforests. The population of the monkey species is decreasing because of deforestation and poaching. The lightweight apes can reach upto 17 to 25 inches in length and weigh approximately 9 and 29 pounds. Male species are larger than females. The average lifespan of the species is 25 years in the wild.

14. Golden Lion Tamarin

Golden Lion Tamarin is mostly seen in the rainforests of the Atlantic coast of Brazil. Currently, there are only 1500 golden lion tamarins left in the wild because of the high rate of deforestation and increased agriculture. The small monkey can reach upto 6 to 10 inches in length and weighs approximately 17 and 24 pounds in weight. Talking about the appearance, the small monkey is covered with orange or golden fur with tail and forepaws are brown in colour. The average lifespan of the species is 20 years in captivity and up to 8 years in the wild.

15. Baboon

One of the types of monkeys mostly seen in Africa and Arabia. There are in total five species of baboons that loves to thrive in different habitats such as tropical rainforests, savannas, open woodlands and semi-arid areas. Both male and female are of a different size where male baboon is two times larger than females and can reach upto 14 to 30 inches in height and weighs approximately 50 to 100 pounds. Talking about the appearance, the body of the species is covered with fur with dark olive or yellow in colour. Both male and female look alike, howvever, females do not have long hair around their necks.

These are the 15 types of monkeys. Do post your comments.