Tropical Rain Forest Primates

This is a colobus monkey. Click on image for full size (60K JPG) Courtesy of Corel Photography

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, so they are called frugivores. 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 are called foliovores because they 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. These primates are more famous than the others mentioned here. Gorillas are too big to climb trees, so they are found on the forest floor.

This is a colobus monkey. Click on image for full size (60K JPG) Courtesy of Corel Photography

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.

This is a colobus monkey. Click on image for full size (60K JPG) Courtesy of Corel Photography

Monkeys are primates. There are many different types of monkeys in the tropical rain forest. Some of them are small, like chimps, and others are really big, like gorillas.

There are two types of monkey: old world and new world. New world monkeys live only in South and Central America. Old world monkeys live in Africa and Asia.

Each species of monkey looks different and eats different foods. Some eat leaves, some eat fruit and others eat animals. Some monkeys live in large groups, and others have small families.