Monkeys belong to an animal group called primates. Apes belong to that group too. Do you ever accidentally call an orangutan a monkey? Or mislabel a macaque as an ape?

Not anymore! Learn your monkeys from your apes below.

God designed both monkeys and apes for life in trees. You can see that in the ways they are alike:

• Forward-facing eyes for good depth perception let them judge distance between trees.

• Flexible arms and legs for moving about and balancing

• Hands that can grasp branches

But there are lots of ways in which they are different: 

Apes: Fewer than two dozen species

Monkeys: About 260 species

Apes: Larger, heavier, broad back and chest

Monkeys: Smaller, longer, and narrower chest and shoulders, skeleton more like cat or dog

Apes: Arms longer than legs

Monkey: Arms and legs about same length

Apes: No tail

Monkeys: Almost all have tails, and New World monkeys (from Mexico, Central and South America) have prehensile tails. That means they can be used to grasp and swing.

Apes: Opposable thumbs on both hands and feet

Monkeys: Most have opposable thumbs on hands only.

Apes: Shorter nose

Monkeys: Longer nose

Apes: Larger brains, better at some kinds of problem solving

Monkeys: Smaller brains

Apes: See in full color

Monkeys: Only some see in full color

Apes: More upright posture, “knuckle walk” by leaning forward onto hands, and swing from branch to branch

Monkeys: Walk on all fours and run along branches

Apes: Live only in Africa and Southern Asia, spend time both on ground and in trees

Monkeys: Live in Africa, Asia, Mexico, and South and Central America. They spend almost all their time in trees.

Apes: Live up to about 60 years

Monkeys: Live up to about 45 years