Types of Monkeys

Common Monkey Types

Ten groups cover most of what people picture as a monkey. Each card below jumps to its full section or its own page. The 28 groups that follow cover every living species.

Macaques

Asia’s most adaptable monkeys, and the only group with a species in Africa north of the Sahara.

Baboons

Large ground dwellers of Africa and Arabia, with societies that nest four layers deep.

Colobus Monkeys

Leaf eaters that gave up the thumb almost entirely, named from the Greek for mutilated.

Langurs

Part of the largest monkey group of all, with a chambered stomach that ferments leaves.

Spider Monkeys

Hook-handed brachiators that dropped the thumb to swing more freely.

Marmosets

Gum feeders that gouge round holes in bark, including the smallest monkey on earth.

Capuchin Monkeys

Stone tool users that crack palm nuts on anvils and test the nut first.

Howler Monkeys

An enlarged hyoid bone makes them a contender for loudest land mammal.

Tamarins

Claw-nailed twin bearers where the whole group helps raise the young.

Squirrel Monkeys

Small, quick and white-masked, with a tail that balances rather than grips.

Langurs and Surilis

Langurs and surilis form the largest monkey group of all. Fifty species sit across three genera. They range from Pakistan and the Himalayas east to Java. Gray langurs live above 4,000 meters in the mountains. A multi-chambered stomach ferments leaves, much as a cow’s does.

Francois’ langur shelters in limestone caves from rain and cold. Its newborns arrive bright apricot-orange. Javan surili now holds steep volcanic slopes too awkward to farm. About four percent of its original habitat remains. ^[43][44][45]

Separate accounts cover Francois’ langur and the Javan surili. Gee’s golden langur has one too. Browse the wider langur species.

Macaques

Macaques are the most widely spread monkey genus. Twenty-five species reach from Afghanistan to Japan. One species lives outside Asia altogether. The Barbary macaque holds the Atlas ranges of Morocco and Algeria. It is the only monkey left in Africa north of the Sahara.

Its tail is just one to two centimeters long. Japanese macaques are the northernmost wild primates on earth. They sit in hot springs through the winter. Their fur thickens enough to handle minus 20 degrees Celsius. Rhesus macaques have been recorded at 4,000 meters. ^[24][25][26]

The Barbary macaque and the Japanese macaque have full profiles. So does the rhesus macaque. More in the macaque species.

Colobus Monkeys

Colobus monkeys gave up the thumb almost entirely. The name comes from Greek for mutilated. Olive colobus carries bony knobs where thumbs would sit. A large chambered stomach breaks down leaf fiber with bacteria. Twenty-three species occupy Africa’s forest belt.

That belt runs from Senegal east to Kenya and Zanzibar. Olive colobus mothers carry newborns in the mouth. No other monkey of Africa or Asia does this. Red colobus are the most threatened monkeys in Africa. Fourteen of eighteen taxa are endangered or worse. ^[40][41][42]

Read up on the mantled guereza and the olive colobus. The Zanzibar red colobus has its own page. See every colobus monkey species.

Guenons

Guenons wear the most painted faces of any monkeys. Nose and cheek patterns separate one species from the next. Cheek pouches hold nearly as much food as the stomach. Twenty-two species spread across forested Africa. Most live in trees, but some took to the ground.

Those ground dwellers sit in the genus Allochrocebus. L’Hoest’s monkey takes a third of its food from the ground. De Brazza’s monkey freezes and falls silent when threatened. Schmidt’s red-tailed monkey carries a tail up to 89 centimeters. ^{[27][28][29][30]}

De Brazza’s monkey is profiled separately. So are the Diana monkey and the lesula. Related: green monkey varieties.

Mangabeys

Mangabeys split into two informal camps. White-eyelid mangabeys forage low and on the ground. Crested mangabeys stay high and rarely come down. Fourteen species occupy west, central and east Africa. Powerful jaws crack seeds that smaller-toothed monkeys cannot open.

The gray-cheeked mangabey calls with a specialized throat sac. Its whoop-gobble carries about half a mile. One mangabey went unnamed by science until 2006. The kipunji was found in 2003 and given its own genus. A 2021 census counted 1,966 of them. ^[17][18][19]

Look at the Sanje mangabey and the Tana River mangabey. The agile mangabey has a page as well. Also see monkeys of the Congo.

Vervet Monkeys

Vervets are the most widespread monkeys in Africa. Seven species run from Senegal to Ethiopia and South Africa. Water and sleeping trees set their limits, not habitat type. They climb to about 4,000 meters but skip rainforest and desert. Their alarm calls name the predator.

A leopard call sends monkeys on the ground up into trees. An eagle call sends monkeys in the canopy down. A snake call makes them stand upright and scan the grass. Slave ships carried vervets to St. Kitts in the late 1600s. Their descendants still live on those islands. ^[31][32][33]

The genus includes the malbrouck and the tantalus monkey. The Bale monkey as well. Related reading: omnivorous monkey diets.

Baboons

Baboons are the dog-faced monkeys of Africa and Arabia. Only six species exist, far fewer than most readers expect. They weigh 20 to 70 pounds and keep a non-grasping tail. More than 30 distinct calls carry their social business. Hamadryas society nests four layers deep.

One-male units build into clans, clans into bands, bands into troops. Sleeping troops can run to hundreds of animals. Olive and yellow baboons interbreed where their ranges meet. At Amboseli, yellow baboons average 37 percent olive ancestry. That figure comes from 440 sequenced genomes. ^[14][15][16]

The hamadryas baboon and the olive baboon each have a page. So does the Kinda baboon. Full list of baboon species.

Snub-Nosed Monkeys

Snub-nosed monkeys endure the coldest conditions of any primate. Five species hold montane forest in China, Myanmar and Vietnam. The nose sits flattened and set back, nostrils facing forward. Golden snub-nosed monkeys live between 1,200 and 4,000 meters. Snow covers their forest for up to four months.

Winter lows reach minus 8 degrees Celsius. They turn to lichen when nothing better is available. They sometimes eat snow for water. One species escaped description until 2010. Three of the five are critically endangered. ^[46][47]

Related reading: gray monkey species.

Patas Monkeys

The patas monkey is the fastest primate alive. It reaches about 55 kilometers per hour, roughly 34 miles per hour. Unusually long forelimbs do the work. Three species occupy dry country south of the Sahara. They usually sleep one monkey to a tree.

They rarely use the same tree twice. Gum from whistling thorn acacia is a staple food. Grasshoppers, weevils and even birds fill out the diet. The southern patas monkey is down to very few animals. Its Kilimanjaro population has not been seen since 2011. ^[34][35]

More on the common patas monkey. Related: red-furred monkeys.

Doucs

Doucs are named for the color of their shanks. Three species carry red, grey or black legs. They replace one another from north to south. All three live east of the Mekong River. That range covers Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The red-shanked douc adds white forearms and a white face ring. The black-shanked douc has yellow rings around the eyes. One study put its diet at 54.6 percent leaves. Infants are taken alive for the pet trade. ^[48]

Related reading: monkeys of Southeast Asia.

Mandrills and Drills

Only two species carry these famously colored faces. The mandrill shows swollen blue ridges with a red nose. The drill keeps a subdued shiny black face instead. Mandrills wear an orange beard, drills a white one. Males dwarf females at roughly 32 against 12 kilograms.

Mandrills gather in hordes that averaged 620 animals in one study. One horde reached 845. Few primates anywhere assemble in such numbers. Mandrills eat more than one hundred plant species. Hunting is probably the drill’s single biggest threat. ^[20]

The mandrill and the drill have separate accounts. See also monkeys found in Cameroon.

Talapoins

Talapoins are the smallest Old World monkeys. Adults weigh about 1.3 to 1.4 kilograms. Two species keep to riverbanks and swamps in west-central Africa. They are never found far from water.

They swim strongly and will dive to escape danger. They sleep on branches hanging over the water. Insects and other arthropods make up almost 40 percent of the diet. Gabon talapoin groups sometimes reach one hundred members. ^[36][37]

See the Gabon talapoin, the better documented of the two. Also monkeys of Gabon.

Geladas

One species survives in this genus. The gelada belongs to the Ethiopian highlands and nowhere else. Grass makes up 79.6 percent of its diet. No other living primate eats this way. Blades account for 55.4 percent, rhizomes 11.2 percent.

It sleeps on open cliff faces and feeds on flat plains. Adults carry a red patch on the chest. Its wobble call matches the pacing of human speech. The monkey vocalizes while lip-smacking to produce it. ^[21][22][23]

More detail on the gelada. See also plant-eating monkeys.

Allen’s Swamp Monkey

This monkey lives in the swamp forests of the Congo Basin. Webbed toes let it paddle through shallow water. It dives to escape predators. Infants swim within a few months of birth.

It forages on the ground and in the water. Fish, shrimp and snails join fruit, seeds and leaves. Groups can pass 40 animals. Keepers padlock enrichment items because it takes them apart. ^[38][39]

The full account of Allen’s swamp monkey covers its swimming. Related: rainforest monkey species.

Titi Monkeys

Titis are the largest New World monkey group. Thirty-three species outnumber the six baboon species five to one. Few readers have heard of them. A 2016 revision split them across three genera. Resting pairs sit pressed together and twine their tails. Bonded pairs sing a synchronized duet at dawn.

Black-fronted titi duets can run two hours. Territorial calls carry up to 1.6 miles. Males carry the infant except during nursing and grooming. Titis are among the few mammals that pair for life. The collared titi is the oldest titi lineage. It split from the rest roughly 11 to 13 million years ago. ^{[51][52][53][54][91][92]}

Profiled species include the red-bellied titi and the ornate titi. The Caqueta titi too. Related: brown monkey species.

Tamarins

Tamarins trade flat nails for claws called tegulae. Twenty-nine species range from Panama to Bolivia. About 78 percent of golden lion tamarin births are twins. Every group member helps carry and feed the infants. Long fingers probe bromeliads for hidden prey. Carotenoids and sunlight give the golden lion tamarin its fiery coat.

Its wild population fell below 200 animals in the 1960s. Between 1984 and 2001, 146 captive-born tamarins were released in Brazil. Forty-three institutions across eight countries took part. Studbook numbers were tattooed on the inner thigh. The cotton-top tamarin holds one small corner of northwest Colombia. ^[55][56][57]

The golden lion tamarin has a page. So do the red-chested mustached tamarin and Weddell’s saddle-back tamarin. Also see orange-coated monkeys.

Marmosets

Marmosets eat tree gum for a living. Large chisel-like incisors gouge holes in bark. The holes come out nearly round, 10 to 20 millimeters wide. The monkey anchors its upper teeth and cuts with the lower ones. It returns about a day later to collect the gum. Twenty-four species live in South America.

The pygmy marmoset is the smallest monkey in the world. It averages 119 grams and 136 millimeters. Twins occur in about 70 percent of its wild births. Parents park two-week-old infants in sheltered spots while they forage. In common marmoset groups, subordinate unrelated females often do not ovulate. ^[58][59][60]

The pygmy marmoset has its own page. So do the Satere marmoset and the white marmoset. Browse all marmoset species.

Saki Monkeys

Sakis are seed predators, not fruit eaters. Seeds take 40 to 90 percent of their feeding time. Long sharp lower incisors crack the shells open. Massive flared canines do the heavy work. They prefer seeds from unripe fruit that other monkeys cannot open. Flat molars crush what the canines breach.

They choose food by fat content rather than sugar. A white-faced saki can leap ten meters in one bound. It grips between the index and middle fingers. Bearded sakis carry bulging coronal tufts on the head. Male and female white-faced sakis look like different species. ^[61][62][63]

Look at the hairy saki and the Napo saki. The red-backed bearded saki as well. Related: fruit-eating monkeys.

Howler Monkeys

Howlers have a claim as the loudest land mammal. An enlarged hyoid bone resonates and amplifies the call. Male hyoid volume averages 69.5 milliliters against 12.5 in females. Red howler roars carry up to a kilometer. Twelve species run from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. They are likely the most leaf-eating monkeys of the Neotropics.

Fossil teeth date that shift to about 13.3 million years ago. The prehensile tail is bare underneath and grips while they feed. That bare skin carries ridges much like fingerprints. Black howler males are black and females blonde. Both sexes start blonde and males darken at about 2.5 years. ^{[64][65][66][67]}

Pages cover the red howler monkey and the mantled howler monkey. The ursine howler too. See also black monkey species.

Capuchin Monkeys

Capuchins are the stone tool users of the monkey world. Bearded capuchins crack palm nuts with stone hammers. The stones they choose weigh 0.1 to 3 kilograms. Piassava palm nuts need 11.5 kilonewtons to fail. A capuchin taps the nut first to check the anvil holds it.

Eleven species occupy South America. They also urinate on their hands and rub them together. Odor tells them their own group from strangers. White-faced capuchins rub plants through their fur, often in groups. Many of those plants carry insecticidal or antiseptic compounds. ^{[68][69][70][71]}

The Panamanian white-faced capuchin and the weeping capuchin are documented separately. Related: monkeys that eat fruit.

Night Monkeys

Night monkeys are the only monkeys that work after dark. Ten species range from Panama to northern Argentina. Their eyes carry far more rods than cones. The lens is rounder than in daytime primates. They have no tapetum lucidum, so their eyes do not shine back. Night activity is a return, not an inheritance.

Their ancestors were awake by day. Pairs are genetically monogamous and breed only with each other. Fathers do most of the carrying after the first three weeks. Males carry infants 80 to 90 percent of the time early on. Travel distance rises under a full moon. ^[83][84][85]

The Panamanian night monkey has a page. So do the Andean night monkey and Nancy Ma’s night monkey. Also gray-coated monkeys.

Squirrel Monkeys

Squirrel monkeys wear a white mask around the eyes. Dark fur frames the mouth and chin. Eight species run from Costa Rica to Bolivia. The tail balances rather than grips. They leap about two meters between branches.

Insects and seasonal fruit carry the diet. Males can put on a fifth of their body weight before breeding. Central American squirrel monkeys live in groups of 40 to 65. In Humboldt’s squirrel monkey, females outnumber and lead the troop. Power line electrocution is a documented threat. ^[72][73]

Details on the Central American squirrel monkey and the bare-eared squirrel monkey. Related: yellow-marked monkeys.

Uakaris

The uakari has the most startling face of any monkey. Bare crimson skin covers it entirely. That red signals a healthy animal on a good diet. Eight species live in Amazonian Brazil, Peru and Venezuela. Well-developed canines break thick seed shells. Powerful jaw muscles reach the fat-rich kernel inside.

The tail is short, which is unusual here. Red uakaris favor stands of aguaje palm. Bald uakaris gather in large groups when fruit is plentiful. They break into ones and twos when it thins. The Neblina uakari feeds from over 120 tree species. ^[86][87][88]

The bald uakari and the Neblina uakari both have full accounts. See also monkeys of Peru.

Spider Monkeys

Spider monkeys dropped the thumb to swing better. It is reduced in some species and absent in others. Hands work as hooks with long curved fingers. Arms run much longer than the legs. Seven species reach from southern Mexico to the Guianas.

They brachiate, swinging hand over hand beneath branches. They also bridge their bodies across gaps between trees. The tail tip is bare and textured like a fingertip. Groups split and merge through the day. Some brown spider monkeys have pale blue eyes. ^[74][75][76]

See Geoffroy’s spider monkey and the white-bellied spider monkey. The variegated spider monkey too. Browse every spider monkey species.

Woolly Monkeys

Woolly monkeys are built thicker than spider monkeys. The coat is dense and woolly, which gives the name. A prehensile tail longer than the body carries a gripping pad. Arms and legs run about equal in length. Fruit dominates the diet all year.

One species eats fruit from more than 250 plant species. Another was measured at 99.9 percent plant material. Groups can reach 70 animals and split through the day. The yellow-tailed woolly monkey lives only in Peru. It holds Andean cloud forest between 1,100 and 2,700 meters. ^[77][78][79]

Related reading: monkeys of Bolivia.

Muriquis

Muriquis are the largest monkeys in the Americas. Only two species remain, both in Brazil. They cling to fragments of Atlantic coastal forest. Northern muriquis have a thumb stub of 0.3 to 1.9 centimeters. Southern muriquis have no external thumb at all.

Northern muriqui groups open the day with a group embrace. Their society runs without a dominance hierarchy. Aggression among them is rare. Southern muriquis are less peaceable, and violence has been recorded. Fewer than 1,000 northern muriquis survive in 14 isolated populations. ^[80][81][82]

Related reading: monkeys native to Brazil.

Goeldi’s Monkey

One species stands apart from the marmosets and tamarins. Goeldi’s monkey bears a single infant, not twins. It keeps three molars where its relatives keep two. Shaggy dark fur and a neck mane set it apart. It lives in the upper Amazon across five countries.

Mushrooms matter to it as to almost no other monkey. One diet study found fungus at 29 percent. Arthropods and fruit each took 29 and 31 percent. It leans on fungi in the dry season when fruit runs short. Group members stay within 15 meters of each other. ^[89][90]

Related reading: monkeys of Ecuador.

Where Diversity Sits

Sorting by species count upends the usual picture. Langurs and surilis hold 50 species, more than any other group. Titi monkeys hold 33. Baboons hold six. So titi monkeys outnumber baboons more than five to one. Yet most lists open with baboons and skip titis entirely.

The same gap shows up again and again. Mandrills, geladas and proboscis monkeys are all famous. Each group holds one or two species. Real diversity sits with the leaf eaters and the small forest specialists. The table below gives all 28 groups and their counts.^[1]

Monkeys and Apes

Are Gorillas Monkeys?

No. Not every primate is a monkey.

Apes are not monkeys. They are also not a kind of Old World monkey, which is a common slip. Hominoidea and Cercopithecoidea are sister superfamilies inside the parvorder Catarrhini. They share an ancestor, then went separate ways. Prosimians sit further out again, and include lemurs, lorises and tarsiers.

The tail is the quickest field mark. Most monkeys carry one. No living ape does. A 2024 study traced that loss to an Alu element inserted in the TBXT gene. The insertion changes how the gene is spliced in apes and humans.

Brachiation is the other giveaway. It runs opposite to the usual assumption. Swinging hand over hand beneath branches is an ape specialty. Gibbons are the textbook case, reaching about 35 miles per hour. They cross gaps of up to 50 feet. Great apes are not habitual brachiators. Most monkeys are not brachiators at all. Spider monkeys are the notable monkey exception.^{[2][4][6][7][8]}

Primate Groups

Four broad groups make up the living primates. Here is how they divide.

Prosimians

Prosimians are the primates outside the monkey and ape line. The living groups are lemurs, lorises, galagos, the aye-aye and tarsiers.
Most rely heavily on smell to communicate and find food. Tarsiers are the exception, built around eyesight, and can swivel the head about 180 degrees each way.
Monkeys and apes depend on sight instead.
Prosimians live in parts of Africa and Asia, above all Madagascar. None occur in the Americas or Australia.

Old World Monkeys

Old World monkeys make up one family, Cercopithecidae. That family holds two subfamilies, Cercopithecinae and Colobinae, with 83 species each.
Nostrils point downward and sit close together. Tails are present but cannot grasp.
Cercopithecines carry cheek pouches and a simple stomach. Colobines carry a chambered stomach that ferments leaves.
They range across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, but not Madagascar.

New World Monkeys

New World monkeys are small to medium tree dwellers of the Americas.
They span five families: Pitheciidae, Callitrichidae, Atelidae, Cebidae and Aotidae.
Nostrils are broad and face outward. Cheek pouches are absent.
A gripping prehensile tail appears in the atelids, such as howlers and spider monkeys. It is not universal here.
They occupy southern Mexico, Central America and South America.

Apes

Apes form the superfamily Hominoidea. They are the sister group to Old World monkeys, not a branch within them.
No living ape has a tail. A 2024 study tied the loss to an Alu insertion in the TBXT gene.
Apes are the brachiators. Gibbons swing hand over hand beneath branches as their main way of travelling.
Two branches exist: gibbons and siamangs as the lesser apes, and orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and humans as the great apes.

Classification History

The modern arrangement took more than a century to settle. The English biologist St. George Jackson Mivart published the first scheme in 1873. His book Man and Apes split the order in two.^[10]

• Anthropoidea: humans and all the apes.
• Lemuroidea: lemurs and their close relatives, then also called half-apes or lemuroids.

Mivart worked from anatomy, habits and geography alone. A century of fossils and molecular data reshaped the picture. Robert D. Martin set out a six-group arrangement in Primate Origins and Evolution. Princeton University Press published it in 1990. Martin was then at the University of Zurich. He is now curator emeritus at Chicago’s Field Museum.^[11][12]

The grouping reflects level of biological organization, not rank or merit. One detail is often garbled. The Greek kerkopithekos means long-tailed ape, from kerkos for tail. The length belongs to the tail, not the animal.^[13]

Fossils from the Rukwa Rift in Tanzania fixed the timing. A precisely dated 25.2 million year old layer yielded two new primates. Paleontologists named them Rukwapithecus fleaglei and Nsungwepithecus gunnelli. One is a stem ape, the other a stem Old World monkey. The two lines had already parted by then.^[9]

Monkey Names A-Z

Every living monkey species is listed below with a photograph. Each card opens that species profile. Each letter also has its own page with fuller notes. These monkey names run A to Z, skipping Q and X.

• monkeys starting with A
• monkeys starting with B
• monkeys starting with C
• monkeys starting with D
• monkeys starting with E
• monkeys starting with F
• monkeys starting with G
• monkeys starting with H
• monkeys starting with I
• monkeys starting with J
• monkeys starting with K
• monkeys starting with L
• monkeys starting with M
• monkeys starting with N
• monkeys starting with O
• monkeys starting with P
• monkeys starting with R
• monkeys starting with S
• monkeys starting with T
• monkeys starting with U
• monkeys starting with V
• monkeys starting with W
• monkeys starting with Y
• monkeys starting with Z

A

17 speciesAll monkeys starting with A

Agile Mangabey Allen’s Swamp Monkey Alta Floresta Titi Amazon Black Howler Andean Night Monkey Andean Saddle-back Tamarin Angolan Colobus Angolan Talapoin Annamese Silvered Langur Aquino's Titi Aracá Uakari Arunachal Macaque Ashy Black Titi Ashy Red Colobus Assam Macaque Atlantic Titi Azara’s Night Monkey

B

53 speciesAll monkeys starting with B

Bald Uakari Bale Monkey Banded Langur Barbara Brown’s Titi Barbary Macaque Bare-eared Squirrel Monkey Bearded Capuchin Bearded Emperor TamarinBearded Saki Bengal Sacred Langur Black and White Langur Black Bearded Saki Black Capuchin Black colobus Black Howler monkey Black Lion Tamarin Black Snub-nosed Monkey Black Spider Monkey Black Squirrel Monkey Black Sumatran Langur Black Tamarin Black Titi Black Uakari Black-capped Squirrel Monkey Black-crested mangabey Black-Crested Sumatran Langur Black-faced Lion Tamarin Black-footed Gray Langur Black-fronted Titi Black-headed Marmoset Black-headed Night Monkey Black-Headed Spider Monkey Black-mantled Tamarin Black-shanked Douc Langur Black-Tailed Marmoset Black-Tufted Marmoset Blond Capuchin Blue Monkey Blue Nile Patas Monkey Bolivian Red Howler Bonnet Macaque Booted Macaque Bouvier’s Red Colobus Brazilian Bare-Faced Tamarin Brown Howler Monkey Brown Titi Brown Weeper Capuchin Brown-backed Bearded Saki Brown-mantled Tamarin Brumback’s Night Monkey Buffy-headed Marmoset Buffy-tufted Marmoset Burnished Saki

C

23 speciesAll monkeys starting with C

Campbell’s Mona Monkey Capped Langur Caquetá Titi Cat Ba Langur Cazuza’s Saki Central American Squirrel Monkey Chacma Baboon Chacoan Titi Monkey Chestnut-bellied Titi Coastal Black-handed Titi Coimbra Filho’s Titi Collared Mangabey Collared Titi Collins’ Squirrel Monkey Colombian Black-handed Titi Common Marmoset Coppery Titi Cotton-Top Tamarin Crab-Eating Macaque Crested Black Macaque Crested Mona Monkey Cross Marked Langur Cruz Lima’s Saddleback Tamarin

D

7 speciesAll monkeys starting with D

De Brazza’s Monkey Delacour’s Langur Dent’s Mona Monkey Diana Monkey Drill Dryas Monkey Dusky Langur

E

9 speciesAll monkeys starting with E

East Javan Langur East Sumatran Banded Langur Eastern Black-handed Tamarin Eastern Pygmy Marmoset Ecuadorian Capuchin Ecuadorian Squirrel Monkey Emilia’s Marmoset Emperor Tamarin Equatorial Saki

F

3 speciesAll monkeys starting with F

Foa’s Red Colobus Formosan Rock Macaque François’ Langur

G

33 speciesAll monkeys starting with G

Gabon Talapoin Gee’s Golden Langur Gelada Geoffroy’s Monk Saki Geoffroy’s Saddleback Tamarin Geoffroy’s Spider Monkey Geoffroy’s Tamarin Germain’s Langur Goeldi’s Marmoset Gold-And-White Marmoset Golden Lion Tamarin Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey Golden-Bellied Capuchin Golden-Bellied Mangabey Golden-faced Saki Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin Golden-mantled Tamarin Gorontalo Macaque Gray Snub-Nosed Monkey Gray’s Bald-faced Saki Gray-bellied Night Monkey Gray-Cheeked Mangabey Gray-handed Night Monkey Gray-Shanked Douc Langur Greater Spot-Nosed Monkey Green Monkey Grivet Monkey Guianan Brown Capuchin Guianan Saki Guianan Squirrel Monkey Guianan Weeper Capuchin Guinea Baboon Guyanan Red Howler Monkey

H

14 speciesAll monkeys starting with H

Hairy Saki Hamadryas Baboon Hamlyn’s Monkey Hatinh Langur Heck’s Macaque Hershkovitz’s Marmoset Highland Mangabey Hoffmann’s Titi Hooded Capuchin Hose’s Langur Humboldt’s Night Monkey Humboldt’s Squirrel Monkey Humboldt’s White Capuchin Humboldt’s Woolly Monkey

I

4 speciesAll monkeys starting with I

Illiger’s Saddle-Back Tamarin Indochinese Black Langur Indochinese Grey Langur Isabel’s Saki

J

4 speciesAll monkeys starting with J

Japanese Macaque Javan Fuscous Langur Javan Surili Johnston’s Mangabey

K

6 speciesAll monkeys starting with K

Kaapori Capuchin Kanamari White Uakari Kashmir Gray Langur Kinda Baboon King Colobus Kulinas' Mustached Tamarin

L

11 speciesAll monkeys starting with L

Lake Baptista Titi Lang’s Red Colobus Laotian Langur Lesser Spotted-Nosed Monkey Lesson’s Saddle-Back Tamarin Lesula Likweli Lion-Tailed Macaque Lomami Red Colobus Lowe’s Mona Monkey Lucifer Titi

M

27 speciesAll monkeys starting with M

Madidi Titi Malbrouck Mandrill Mantled Guereza Mantled Howler Monkey Maranhão Red-Handed Howler Marca’s Marmoset Maroon Langur Martins’ Tamarin Maués Marmoset Mentawai Langur Midas Tamarin Miller’s Langur Miller’s Saki Milton’s Titi Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus Mitered Langur Mittermeier’s Tapajós Saki Mona Monkey Moor Macaque Mottle-faced Tamarin Mount Kilimanjaro Guereza Moustached Guenon Moustached Tamarin Muna-Buton Macaque Munduruku Marmoset Myanmar Snub-nosed Monkey

N

11 speciesAll monkeys starting with N

Nancy Ma’s Night Monkey Napo Saki Natuna Island Surili Neblina Uakari Nepal Gray Langur Niger Delta Red Colobus Nilgiri Langur North Sumatran Leaf Monkey Northern Muriqui Northern Pig-tailed Macaque Novaes' Bald Uakari

O

5 speciesAll monkeys starting with O

Olive Baboon Olive Colobus Ollala Brothers’ Titi Ornate Titi Oustalet’s Red Colobus

P

20 speciesAll monkeys starting with P

Pagai Island Macaque Pale-Thighed Langur Panamanian Night Monkey Panamanian White-faced Capuchin Parecis Titi Patas Monkey Pennant’s Red Colobus Peruvian Spider Monkey Peruvian White-fronted Capuchin Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey Phayre’s Langur Pig-tailed Langur Pissinatti’s Bald-faced Saki Popa Langur Preuss’s Monkey Preuss’s Red Colobus Prince Bernhard’s Titi Proboscis Monkey Purple-faced Langur Pygmy Marmoset (Finger Monkey)

R

24 speciesAll monkeys starting with R

Red Bald Uakari Red Howler Monkey Red-backed Bearded Saki Red-bellied Monkey Red-bellied Titi Red-cap Mustached TamarinRed-Chested Mustached Tamarin Red-eared Guenon Red-handed Howler Red-headed Titi Red-mantled Saddle-Back Tamarin Red-Shanked Douc Langur Rhesus Macaque Rio Acari Marmoset Rio Beni Titi Río Cesar White-fronted Capuchin Rio Mayo Titi Robinson’s Banded Langur Robust Capuchin Monkey Roloway Monkey Rondon’s Marmoset Roosmalens’ Dwarf Marmoset Rusty-Mantled Mangabey Ryland’s Bald-faced Saki

S

31 speciesAll monkeys starting with S

Saban Grizzled Langur Sanje Mangabey Santa Marta White-fronted Capuchin Santarem Marmoset Satéré Marmoset Schmidt’s Red-tailed Monkey Schneider’s Marmoset Sclater’s Guenon Sela Macaque Selangor Silvered Langur Semliki Red Colobus Shan State Langur Shock-headed Capuchin Shortridge’s Capped Langur Siberut Langur Siberut Macaque Sierra De Perijá White-fronted Capuchin Silvered Langur Silvery Brown Bare-face Tamarin Silvery Marmoset Sooty Mangabey Southern Black Crested Mangabey Southern Muriqui Southern Patas Monkey Spix’s Night Monkey Spix’s Red-handed Howler Spix’s White-fronted Capuchin Stephen Nash’s Titi Stump-tailed Macaque Sun-Tailed Monkey Sunda Pig-Tailed Macaque

T

12 speciesAll monkeys starting with T

Tana River Mangabey Tana River Red Colobus Tantalus Monkey Tarai Gray Langur Tenasserim Langur Thollon’s Red Colobus Tibetan Macaque Tonkean Macaque Tonkin Snub-Nosed Monkey Toppin’s Titi Toque Macaque Tufted Gray Langur

U

8 speciesAll monkeys starting with U

Ucayali Bald Uakari Udzungwa Red Colobus Ugandan Crested Mangabey Ulindi River Red Colobus Ursine Colobus Ursine Howler Urubamba Brown Titi Uta Hick’s Bearded Saki

V

5 speciesAll monkeys starting with V

Vanzolini’s Bald-faced Saki Varied White-fronted Capuchin Variegated Spider Monkey Vervet Monkey Vieira’s Titi

W

19 speciesAll monkeys starting with W

Weddell’s Saddle-Back Tamarin Weeping Capuchin West Javan Langur Western Red Colobus White Marmoset White-bellied Spider Monkey White-Cheeked Macaque White-cheeked Spider Monkey White-eared Titi White-footed Saki White-fronted Langur White-headed Langur White-Headed Marmoset White-naped Mangabey White-nosed Saki White-tailed Titi White-Throated Capuchin Wied’s Marmoset Wolf’s Mona Monkey

Y

2 speciesAll monkeys starting with Y

Yellow Baboon Yucatan Black Howler

Z

1 speciesAll monkeys starting with Z

Zanzibar Red Colobus

Monkeys by Diet

Diet splits monkeys more sharply than geography does. Seed predators, gum feeders and grass eaters all sit here. These pages group species by what they eat.

What Do Monkeys Eat?

Carnivorous Monkeys

Frugivorous Monkeys

Herbivorous Monkeys

Omnivorous Monkeys

Monkeys by Color

Color carries real information in primates. It flags species, sex, age and in some cases condition. These lists gather species by coat and skin color.

Albino Monkeys

Black Monkeys

Brown Monkeys

Gray Monkeys

Orange Monkeys

White Monkeys

Green Monkeys

Red Monkeys

Yellow Monkeys

Monkeys by Habitat

Habitat runs from Himalayan snowline to Amazon floodplain. Rainforest holds the greatest share of monkey species.

Types of Rainforest Monkeys

Explore types of rainforest monkeys that are found in different rainforest regions of the world. Rainforests are biomes that have a rich flora and fauna. Animal species diversity is highest in the rainforests than anywhere else on earth.

Read more

Monkeys by Country

Monkey range maps rarely follow borders, but readers search by country. These pages list the species recorded in each one.

Angolan Monkeys

Argentinian Monkeys

Indian Monkeys

Brazilian Monkeys

Democratic Republic of the Congo Monkeys

Cameroon Monkeys

Borneo Monkeys & Apes

Malaysian Monkeys

Thailand Monkeys & Apes

Panamian Monkeys

Indonesian Monkeys & Apes

Peruvian Monkeys

Bolivian Monkeys

Ecuadorian Monkeys

Mexico Monkeys

Costa Rica Monkeys: A Journey into the Rich Biodiversity!

Gibraltar Monkeys