A monkey is any member of two of the three groupings of
simian primates. These two groupings are the New World
and Old World monkeys. Because of their similarity to
monkeys, apes such as chimpanzees and gibbons are sometimes
incorrectly called monkeys. Also, a few monkey species
have the word "ape" in their common name. Because
they are not a single coherent group, monkeys do not have
any important characteristics that they all share and
are not shared with the remaining group of simians, the
apes. Monkeys range in size from the Pygmy Marmoset, at
10 cm (4 inch) long (plus tail) and 120 g (4 oz) in weight
to the male Mandrill, almost 1 metre (3 ft) long and weighing
35 kg (75 lb). Some are arboreal (living in trees), some
live on the savanna; some eat fruit, some eat leaves,
and some eat insects; although most have tails (sometimes
prehensile), others do not; some have trichromatic colour
vision like that of humans, others are dichromats or monochromats.
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