Differences Between Monkeys and Apes

Monkeys and apes are both primates. Both are also members of the same suborder of primates (anthropoids). Incidentally, this is the same suborder that humans belong to. They are grouped this way because they are very similar creatures. However, despite the fact that monkeys and apes share many similar characteristics, they are different in many ways.

Body Structure and Appearance

One of the most obvious differences between monkeys and apes is that most monkeys have tails.  Apes do not. Monkeys have prehensile tails that they use to help them swing from branch to branch. This makes them more adapted for life in the trees than apes. However, apes can use their arms to swing from branch to branch because their shoulders are structurally different from those of monkeys.

Apes have a more upright posture than monkeys. Though both apes and monkeys generally walk on all fours, apes can stand upright.

Apes have wider chests than monkeys. They also have broader noses and longer arms. Most ape species are also significantly larger than monkeys, with very few exceptions.

Intelligence

Apes have larger brains in comparison to their body size than monkeys do. They are able to use tools, much like humans. They also have more advanced powers of deduction than monkeys.

Both monkeys and apes share similar feelings and expressions with humans. However, apes are more closely related to humans genetically. In fact, they are the only animals that can communicate with humans using a human language. They can learn sign language and express themselves with it.

Behavior

Apes, chimpanzees in particular, have been observed using tools to hunt prey. They sharpen sticks and use them as spears. This is not behavior you see in monkeys. In fact, chimps do this to hunt monkeys sometimes.

Apes nest in trees and on the ground. Monkeys nest exclusively in trees. This may have something to do with predation. A lot of ape species are big enough to fend off most predators. Monkeys are not.

These are the most obvious differences between apes and monkeys. There are other more subtle differences too. There are also differences that are species specific. For example, one species of apes may display different social behavior than monkeys that other ape species do not. Therefore, this is not an exhaustive list of the differences between monkeys and apes. There are too many species of ape and monkey (more of monkeys than apes) to list all of their individual characteristics here.

Sources

(Note: Sources were retrieved at the time this article was written in 2010)

Great Apes & Other Primates, retrieved 1/16/10, nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Primates/Facts/default.cfm

Apes vs. Monkeys: What’s the difference?, retrieved 1/16/10, hsus.org/animals_in_research/chimps_deserve_better/monkey-use-in-research/apes_vs_monkeys_whats_the.html

Ellis, Jessica, What is the Difference Between Monkeys and Apes, retrieved 1/16/10, wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-monkeys-and-apes.htm

Chimpanzee Hunting Behavior

Chimpanzee
Courtesy of Aaron Logan

Chimpanzees are relatively large primates that are nearly covered in black hair. They have long arms, short legs and opposable thumbs and toes. They are known for their intelligence and their remarkable resemblance to humans. Like humans, chimpanzees are able to form a number of facial expressions, they are also able to make rudimentary tools. What is quite interesting is that they are omnivorous, like humans, which makes them and their close cousins the bonobos, the only other members of the great ape family that eat meat. Even more interesting is the way they hunt for it.

Chimpanzees live in tropical rainforest, savanna and grasslands in Africa, where they spend about six hours each day, hunting or foraging for food. They seek mostly fruits and vegetables because meat only makes up about 3% of their overall food intake. Until the 1960's when primatoligist Jane Goodall was studying chimpanzees, it was believed that these animals were strictly vegetarian. However, Goodall observed them actively hunting, killing and eating various prey and it became known that they were omnivorous.

Chimpanzees hunt alone or in groups of up to thirty-five individuals. The groups are typically made up of males, but females have been known to join the hunt and hunt on their own. They hunt prey both on the ground and in the trees, though they mostly hunt in the trees as red colobus monkeys are their favorite source of meat. The meat from the hunt is then shared among the chimps in the group’s community. Some experts believe that this sharing is part of the reason that chimps hunt when they could easily survive without the meat.

There are several theories that seem to explain why chimpanzees hunt. Some experts believe that it is a social behavior and that the sharing of the meat has a social significance. Others believe that they eat meat for nutrition purposes, though they seem to do okay without it. Whatever the reason is for the behavior, it is certainly proof that these creatures are very intelligent. Some chimps in the savanna have even been observed sharpening sticks with their teeth and using them to hunt bushbabies. Some scientists believe that this may even give us insight into the evolution of the human species.

Sources

Choi, Charles, Special to Live Science, 2/22/07, retrieved 9/18/09, livescience.com/animals/070222-chimp-hunters.html

Gunn, Cha Mia & Lifflick, Melissa & Mathis, Jocelyn, Chimpanzees, retrieved 9/18/09, earlham.edu/~mathijo/chimp.htm

Stanford, Dr. Craig B., The Predatory Behavior and Ecology of Wild Chimpanzees, retrieved 9/18/09, rcf.usc.edu/~stanford/chimphunt.html