First, let's check out a couple of definitions to clear things up.

A primate is a member of the most developed and intelligent group of mammals, including humans, monkeys, and apes.

« Monkey » is the name used for « any mammal of the order Primates, including the guenons, macaques, langurs, and capuchins, but excluding humans, the anthropoid apes, and, usually, the tarsier and prosimians. », « any of various tailed primates of the suborder Anthropoidea, including the macaques, baboons, capuchins, and marmosets, and excluding the apes. »

 

 

 

Therefore :

 

→ Apes don't belong to monkeys

 

→ Monkeys have a tail whereas apes don't

 

→ Apes are big primates but can't be defined as big monkeys

 

 

Definition apes:

 

A large primate with no tail, that uses its arms to move through trees.

 

The apes are a group of anthropoid primates (they include apes, monkeys, and humans. In taxonomy, the order Primates is the highest order of mammals) belonging to Hominoidea. The members of Hominoidea are called hominoids.

They may be grouped into two categories: the great apes and the lesser apes. The great apes or the hominids include Pongo, Gorilla, Pan, and Homo genera. They belong to the family Hominidae. The lesser apes of the family Hylobatidae is comprised by four genera of gibbons. The lesser apes differ from the great apes in having a smaller body frame and long arms they use to swing from branch to branch.

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The apes are characterized by having a rather flexible shoulder joint, broad chest, long arms, and the absence of tail. Most of them are agile tree climbers and feed on fruits, nuts, seeds, leaves, etc.

The ape brain is structurally similar to the human brain and is capable of advanced reasoning.

 

Scientific classification:

• Kingdom: Animalia

• Phylum: Chordata

• Subphylum Vertebrata (animals with backbones)

• Class: Mammalia

• Order: Primates

• Suborder: Haplorhini

• Parvorder: Catarrhini

• Superfamily: Hominoidea [Gray, 1825]

  • Family Hylobatidae

    • Genus Hylobates (with 9 species of gibbons;                                                                                                                              since gibbons do not cross bodies of water,                                                                                                                        major rivers isolate each of the species.)

  • Family Hominidae (the great apes)

    • Genus Pongo (orangutans)

    • Genus Gorilla (gorillas)

    • Genus Pan (chimpanzees and bonobos)

    • Genus Homo (humans)

 

Chimpanzee:

Localisation: Tropical rainforests, forest-savanna, mountain forest. Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroun, Ivoiry Cost, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali).

Characteristics:

Males: 1 m ; 60 to 100 kg.

Females: 90 cm ; 30 to 87 kg.

 

Chimpanzee pelage is primarily black, turning gray on the back after about 20 years of age.

Both sexes have a short white beard, and baldness frequently develops in later years.

The skin on the hands and feet is black, and that of the face ranges from pink to brown or black. The ears are large and the nostrils are small.

Chimpanzees have heavy eyebrows, a flattened fore-head, large protruding ears, and a short neck. The jaw is heavy and protruding, and the canine teeth are large. Male chimpanzees have larger canines than females, and these are used in battle with other males and during predation.

 

Gorilla:

Localisation: Guinea Golf (Congo, Equatorila Guinea, Cameroun, Nigeria, Centrafrican Republic,) for occidental gorillas , Center-East Africa (Rwanda, Ouganda and RDC).

Characteristics:

Males: 1,7m ; 170 kg.

Females: 1,5 m ; 71,5 kg.

The gorilla is the largest of all primates. Gorillas have a distinctive shape: their stomach is larger than their chest. The size of their stomach is attributed to their enlarged intestines, which digest the bulky fibrous vegetation they consume. Gorillas have larger muscles in their arms than in their legs (the opposite is true for humans). Gorillas' arms are much longer than their legs.

 

Unlike human feet, gorillas have an opposable toe allowing them to grasp items with their feet.

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Orangutan:

Localisation:

Indonesian and Malaysian forests

Characteristics:

 

 

Orangutans are the world's largest arboreal (tree-dwelling) mammals. Orangutan arms are one and a half times longer than their legs . Although not as strong as a gorilla, an orangutan is about seven times stronger than a human. Orangutan fingers and toes are long and curved to help hold and quickly release branches as they traverse the treetops. Orangutan feet are adapted for climbing trees.

 

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Hainan gibbon:

Localisation:

Hainan island (in China)

Characteristics:

The Hainan gibbon is the world’s rarest ape (about 20 individuals left). The males are all almost completely black, with sometimes white or buff cheeks. Females, conversely, are a golden or buff color with black patches, including a streak of black on the head. Both males and females are slender, with long arms and legs and no tail. The arms are used to swing from tree to tree.
 

Bonobo:

Localisation:

Bonobos are found only south of the Congo River and north of the Kasai River (a tributary of the Congo), in the humid forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo of central Africa.

Characteristics:

height: between 70 and 90 cm

Weight: between 30 and 40 kg

Bonobos and chimpanzees look very similar and both share 98.7% of their DNA with humans. Bonobo groups tend to be quite peaceful and are led by females. They also maintain relationships and settle conflicts through sex.

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