π¦ Animal world π Mammals
The monkey
π In short
The monkey is a clever, lively animal that loves climbing and leaping between branches. Most monkeys live in the warm forests of Africa, Asia and Central and South America. There are about 200 kinds of monkeys, of different sizes and colors.
π€© Did you know?
- The pygmy marmoset is just 15 centimeters long without its tail.
- A howler monkey's call can be heard kilometers away.
- Leaves make up 80% of some monkeys' food.
- Most monkeys live in hot tropical regions.
π Find out more
π Skillful hands
A monkey has long fingers and a thumb that can touch its other fingers, like ours, so it grips branches and fruit firmly, and even peels its own banana!
π A tail like a hand
Some South American monkeys have a strong tail that wraps around branches so they can hang from it, like a fifth hand.
π‘ Living in groups
Most monkeys live in groups that play together, groom each other's fur and warn the group by screeching if they see a leopard or an eagle.
π― Monkeys of every kind
The smallest monkey is the pygmy marmoset, which can sit on your finger, and one of the biggest is the mandrill with its red and blue face. Baboons and loud howler monkeys are monkeys too.
𧩠Test yourself
1 How do some monkeys use their tail?
2 Where do most monkeys live?
3 The pygmy marmoset is just ?? centimeters long without its tail.
4 Which picture shows βThe monkeyβ?
π¦ Discover more
π· Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons
- Deerpeter Β· CC BY-SA 4.0
