How long are monkey tails?

How long are monkey tails?

Monkeys are primate mammals. 

Monkeys include marmosets, tamarins, capuchins, squirrel monkeys, macaques, night monkeys, sakis, blue monkeys, and spider monkeys. 

Their tails vary in length because there are more than 250 different species of monkeys.

De Brazza’s Monkey

Most monkeys live in trees, so most monkeys have a long prehensile tail that can wrap around branches and support their entire body weight.

New Word monkeys (from Central America and South America) have a prehensile tail. Prehensile means “able to grasp.” This includes squirrel monkeys and tamarins.

Old World monkeys (from Africa and Asia) do not have a prehensile tail. This includes baboons and macaques. Macaques have almost no tail.

Generally, the tail length of a monkey can be 5-100 centimetres (2-39 inches) long.

Sykes’ Blue Monkey
Black-Capped Squirrel Monkey
Guinea Baboon
Vervet Monkey
Eastern Black-and-White Colobus Monkey

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

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