Knowra Old World monkey Old World monkey An anthropoid primate in the superfamily Cercopithecoidea, native to Africa and Asia. Old World monkeys include both cheek-pouched cercopithecines and leaf-eating colobines, and are distinct from apes and New World monkeys.
Catarrhini : A primate group comprising Old World monkeys and apes, characterized by downward-facing nostrils and other shared traits. Old World monkeys belong to this larger group alongside apes.
Cercopithecinae : A subfamily of Old World monkeys that includes macaques, baboons, and guenons. Its members often use cheek pouches and include many flexible, omnivorous foragers.
Rhesus macaque : A widespread Asian macaque known for adaptability and extensive use in biomedical research. It exemplifies a flexible cercopithecine that thrives in natural and human-altered settings.
Catarrhine evolution : The evolutionary history of apes and Old World monkeys. It places Old World monkey origins within the broader history of African catarrhines.
Seed dispersal : The movement of seeds away from their parent plants, often by animals. Fruit-eating monkeys disperse seeds through their movement and droppings.
Cercopithecoidea : The superfamily of Old World monkeys, encompassing cercopithecines and colobines. This is the taxonomic superfamily that contains every Old World monkey.
Colobinae : A subfamily of Old World monkeys that includes colobus monkeys, langurs, and snub-nosed monkeys. Its members are adapted to digest foliage, unlike the more varied diets of cercopithecines.
Olive baboon : A large African baboon found across varied habitats, from savannas to forests. Its terrestrial life and complex groups contrast with more arboreal monkey species.
Aegyptopithecus : An extinct anthropoid primate from Egypt's Oligocene deposits, known from fossils around 30 million years old. Its fossils illuminate early anthropoid evolution near the ancestry of catarrhines.
Biomedical model : A nonhuman organism used to study biological processes or disease relevant to humans. Macaques and other Old World monkeys have been used extensively in biomedical studies.
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