This is a colobus monkey.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of Corel Photography
Tropical Rain Forest Primates
Monkeys and their cousins are all primates. Humans are also primates. There are many species
of monkey in the tropical rain forests of the world. Monkeys can be divided into two
groups: new world monkeys and old world monkeys.
New world monkeys live only in South and Central America. Spider monkeys live in the
rain forests in the Andes mountains. They look very strange with their long noses. Spider monkeys
eat mostly fruit and nuts. They are joined by the howler monkeys. These
primates are so named because they have a special sac that makes their sounds louder.
Old world monkeys live only in Africa and Asia. The colobus monkey is one such kind. These
monkeys eat leaves. They live in small groups of 15, but other primates live in larger groups of up to 200.
There are too many species to discuss here, but we can name a few. Chimpanzees, orangutans and
gorillas are all called pongids. Gorillas are too big to climb trees, so they are found on the forest floor.
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