Old World Monkeys Vs. New World Monkeys

Old World monkeys hail from two continents, Africa and Asia, living in various terrains, including rainforests, savannah, mountains, and shrublands. Old-World Monkeys are the largest primate family in the world. Baboons, macaques, colobus, Guenons, and langurs are examples of old-world monkeys.

New World monkeys come from tropical regions of central and south American countries. Marmosets, sakis, night monkeys, spider monkeys, Uakaris, and tamarins are examples of New-World Monkeys.

Old-World Monkeys vs New-World Monkeys

Aspect	Old World Monkeys	New World Monkeys
Taxonomic Family	Cercopithecidae.	Cebidae, Callitrichidae, Atelidae, Pitheciidae, and Aotidae.
Geographic Origin	Africa and Asia.	The Americas.
Relative Body Size	Medium to large-sized.	Small to medium-sized.
Diet	Either herbivorous or omnivorous depending on the subfamily.	Varies a lot by species, but many are frugivorous or insectivorous.
Active Time	All species are diurnal.	All species are diurnal except for the 11 night monkey species (which are nocturnal).
Hands	They possess nails and opposable thumbs.	They possess no nails and non-opposable thumbs.
Tail	Non-prehensile.	Prehensile or non-prehensile depending on the species.
Teeth	Dental formula of 2.1.2.3 (meaning each quadrant of the mouth has 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars).	Dental formula of 2.1.3.3 (meaning each quadrant of the mouth has 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 3 molars).
Eyes	Trichromatic vision.	Depending on the species and sex, vision can be monochromatic, dichromatic, or trichromatic.
Nose	Downward-facing nose and nostrils.	Flat, broad nose with sideways-facing nostrils.
Sexual Behaviour	Most species fall somwhere between polygynous and polygynandrous.	Smaller species tend to stick to monogamy, while larger ones are typically polygamous.
Gestation	Gestation period is typically around 5 to 7 months.	Gestation period is, on average, about 5 months.

330+ Types of Monkeys

Monkeys are classified into two main groups: Old-world monkeys and New-world monkeys. Explore all 334 different types of monkeys and their facts here.

Cite this page

BioExplorer. (2026, July 19). Old World Monkeys Vs. New World Monkeys. https://www.bioexplorer.net/animals/mammals/monkeys/differences/

Key References

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^[2] – “The Old World Monkeys”. Accessed September 27, 2022. Link.
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^[5] – “The Primates: Monkeys”. Accessed September 27, 2022. Link.
^[6] – “An overview of nonhuman primates in aging research”. Accessed September 27, 2022. Link.
^[7] – “Recent evolution of uniform trichromacy in a New World monkey – ScienceDirect”. Accessed September 27, 2022. Link.
^[8] – “New World Monkeys – Capuchins, The Night Monkey, Titis, Squirrel Monkeys, The Saki Family, Howler Monkeys – Species, Cebid, Tail, and Tend – JRank Articles”. Accessed September 27, 2022. Link.
^[9] – “Mating systems of old world monkeys | Scholars@Duke”. Accessed September 27, 2022. Link.