Old World monkey

Old World monkey

Any of some 100 species of monkeys (the catarrhine [“downward-nosed”] monkeys) that live in Africa, on the Red Sea coast of Arabia, and in Asia from Afghanistan to Indonesia. Catarrhines generally have a narrow nose, a narrow septum, close-set nostrils directed forward or down, bony ear passages, two premolars in each half of each jaw, a nonprehensile tail (if any), and hard patches of bare skin (ischial callosities) on the buttocks. Zoologists gather all Old World monkeys into a single family, Cercopithecidae. There are two subfamilies: Cercopithecinae, or monkeys with cheek pouches (macaques, baboons, vervets, mandrills, and others); and Colobinae, or leaf monkeys (langurs, colobus monkeys, proboscis monkeys, and others). See also New World monkey.