Monkeys come in a lot of different sizesand colors. Some are small enough to fit in the palm of yourhand while others are bigger than a large dog.
Colors
Monkeys are brown, black, red, white, andmany other colors and combinations. For instance,greenmonkeys are brownish-gray incolor with specks of yellow and olive green. And, just like itsname suggests, the black and whitecolobusmonkey is black and white. The mandrill has a brilliantly colored red and blue face.
FunnyFaces
There are a lot of other monkeys withinteresting faces. The uacari has no fur on his head at all andhis face is bright red. The healthier a uacari is, the brighteris his face! Two kinds of guenons(say GWEN-un) have very different faces which tells how they gottheir names. The puffy-nosed guenon has a white nose while themustached guenon has a white mustache. Capuchins and squirrel monkeysboth look like they have a white mask around their face.
Hands
In many ways monkeys hands are just likeours. Monkeys have fingernails and fingerprints and most haveopposable (say a-PO-za-bul) thumbs. Opposable thumbs make handsreally good for holding onto things and picking thingsup. A fancy word for this is prehensile (say pre-HEN-sil)and this is a good word to also describe some monkeys'tails.
Tails
Certain monkeys have tails that are sospecial they can be used almost like an extra hand for grasping andclimbing. The underside of the tip of a prehensile tail has nofur making it an even better grabber. All of the monkeys thathave these special prehensile tails are New World monkeys. Butthe Old World monkeys have not been left out. They have specialbare pads on their rumps that make it more comfortable for themonkeys to sit for a long time. The scientific name for theserump pads is ischial callosities.
Fun Facts
Oneof the world's smallest monkeys is the pygmymarmoset which lives in SouthAmerica. It is usually about 6 inches long, not counting its tail,and weighs only a little more than 2 ounces! The largest monkey isthe mandrill. An adult male mandrill can weigh up to 100pounds!
Thegoldenlion tamarin got its name becausethe fur around its head looks like a lion's mane.
Theproboscismonkey has a very long nose,though this doesn't help him to smell any better than othermonkeys.
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