Monkey

MONKEYS IN HISTORY 

A monkey was washed ashore at the north east English town of Hartlepool during the Napoleonic Wars. Not knowing what a Frenchman looked like, it was mistaken by the townsfolk for a French spy. As the monkey was unable to defend himself against accusations of spying, the townspeople supposedly tried and hanged it.

There is a stable population of rhesus macaque monkeys in central Florida. They were released on an island in a swamp as part of a jungle cruise attraction in 1938, but escaped the island because the tour operator didn’t know they could swim.

Albert II, a male rhesus macaque monkey, was the first primate and first mammal in space. He flew from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, United States, to an altitude of 83 miles (134 km) aboard a U.S. V-2 sounding rocket on June 14, 1949. Albert died upon re-entry after a parachute failure caused Albert's capsule to strike the ground at high speed.

Miss Able and Miss Baker, two Nasa monkeys, became the first animals ever to return alive from a space mission on May 28. 1959.

Miss Baker awaits launch

After her space flight, Miss Baker set a record for longest lived squirrel monkey before dying at age 27. Her grave can often be found adorned with one or more bananas.

In 1970 a scientist, Dr Robert White, transplanted the head of a monkey to the body of another monkey with some limited success.

Until 1991 there was a dedicated position in the British Armed Forces called 'The Keeper of the Apes'. Their job was solely to care for the monkeys of Gibraltar. The military even had a budget for ape-related expenses. Any sick or injured monkey was cared for in British hospitals.

BEHAVIOR

Monkeys urinate on themselves to attract a mate.

The loudest land animal is the Howler monkey whose deep growls can be heard two miles away in the forest or three miles in the open.

A pair of black howler monkeys vocalising.

The leading cause of a death for a white capuchin monkey in the wild is being murdered by another white capuchin monkey.

Grinning or pulling the lip is a sign of aggression in monkeys.

The Burmese sneezing monkey sneezes uncontrollably whenever it rains.

On the Japanese island of Yakushima, monkeys have been seen riding deer.

ANATOMY

Most monkeys are nearsighted.

Old world monkeys (species from Africa) have 32 teeth; new world monkeys (from the Americas) have 36.

In general, monkeys have tails, apes do not, but the Barbary ape, which lacks a tail, is a monkey.

Monkeys have tails; apes do not.

New World monkeys can generally swing by their tails; Old World monkeys generally cannot.

The largest type of monkey is  the mandrill, which can be up to three feet long and weigh 77 pounds.

The smallest type of monkey is the pygmy marmoset which weighs only about four ounces.

The pygmy marmoset is the world's smallest monkey.

Pygmy marmosets can turn their head 180 degrees.

The nose of a proboscis monkey can be four inches long. Female proboscis monkeys are thought to prefer males with long noses.

Monkeys do have vocal tracts for speaking; they just don't have the brain wiring to do it.

Colobus monkeys were given their name because of their shortened thumbs: “kolobós” is from an ancient Greek word for “docked”.

Monkeys in captivity lose much of their native gut bacteria diversity, to the point where their gut bacteria resemble those in humans.

FUN FACTS

There are over 250 known species of monkey.

The Emperor tamarin is said to have been named for German Emperor Wilhelm II as both had impressive white mustaches.

It's legal in New York to own a monkey if you're paralyzed and the monkey is trained to perform household tasks for you.

A group of monkeys is called a troop.

Source Daily Express