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New World monkeys
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Chordata;
Class:	Mammalia;
Order:	Primates;
Suborder:	Haplorrhini;
Infraorder:	Simiiformes;
Parvorder:	Platyrrhini; E. Geoffroy, 1812
Families
	Callitrichidae; Cebidae; Aotidae; Pitheciidae; Atelidae

New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Platyrrhini infraorder and the Ceboidea superfamily, which are essentially synonymous since Ceboidea is the only living platyrrhine superfamily.^[3] They differ from other groupings of monkeys and primates, such as the Old World monkeys and the apes.

[edit] Characteristics

New World monkeys are small to mid-sized primates, ranging from the Pygmy Marmoset (the world's smallest monkey), at 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 in) and a weight of 120 to 190 grams (4.2 to 6.7 oz) to the Southern Muriqui, at 55 to 70 cm (22 to 28 in) and a weight of 12 to 15 kg (26 to 33 lbs). New World monkeys differ slightly from Old World monkeys in several aspects. The most prominent phenotype distinction is the nose, which is the feature used most commonly to distinguish between the two groups. The scientific name for the New World monkeys, Platyrrhini, means "flat nosed". The noses of New World monkeys are flatter than the narrow noses of the Old World monkeys, and have side-facing nostrils. New World monkeys are the only monkeys who have prehensile tails- in comparison with the shorter, non-grasping tails of the anthropoids of the Old World.

Male New World monkeys (except for the howler monkeys of genus Alouatta^[4]) also lack the trichromatic vision of Old World monkeys.^[5] Platyrrhines also differ from Old World monkeys in that they have twelve premolars instead of eight; having a dental formula of 2:1:3:3 (consisting of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 3 molars. This is in contrast with Old World Anthropoids, including humans, gorillas, chimps, bonobos, siamangs, gibbons and orangutans, which share a dental formula of 2:1:2:3.) New World monkeys in the family Atelidae are the only primates with tails that are prehensile. Many New World monkeys are small and almost all are arboreal, so knowledge of them is less comprehensive than that of the more easily observed Old World monkeys. Unlike most Old World monkeys, many New World monkeys form monogamous pair bonds, and show substantial paternal care of young.^[6] They eat fruits, nuts, insects, flowers, bird eggs, spiders, and small mammals. Unlike humans and most Old World monkeys, their thumbs are not opposable ^[7] (except for some Cebids).

[edit] Origin

About 40 million years ago the Simiiformes infraorder split into parvorders Platyrrhini (New World monkeys—in South America) and Catarrhini (apes and Old World monkeys—in Africa).^[8] The Platyrrhini are currently conjectured to have migrated across the Atlantic Ocean to South America on a raft of vegetation similar to the vast pieces of floating mangrove forest that storms occasionally break off from the tropical African coast.^[9] At that time the Atlantic Ocean was less than the present 2,800 km (1,700 mi) wide.

[edit] Classification

The following is the listing of the various platyrrhine families, and their placement in the Order Primates:^[1]^[2]

ORDER PRIMATES
- Suborder Strepsirrhini: lemurs, lorises, etc.
- Suborder Haplorrhini: tarsiers, monkeys and apes
  - Infraorder Tarsiiformes
    - Family Tarsiidae: tarsiers
  - Infraorder Simiiformes
    - Parvorder Platyrrhini: New World monkeys
      - Family Callitrichidae: marmosets and tamarins
      - Family Cebidae: capuchins and squirrel monkeys
      - Family Aotidae: night or owl monkeys (douroucoulis)
      - Family Pitheciidae: titis, sakis and uakaris
      - Family Atelidae: howler, spider and woolly monkeys
    - Parvorder Catarrhini: Old World monkeys, apes and humans

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M.. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 128-152. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.
^ ^a ^b Rylands AB and Mittermeier RA (2009). "The Diversity of the New World Primates (Platyrrhini)". in Garber PA, Estrada A, Bicca-Marques JC, Heymann EW, Strier KB. South American Primates: Comparative Perspectives in the Study of Bahavior, Ecology, and Conservation. Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-78704-6.
^ "Platyrrhini and Ceboidea". ChimpanZoo. 2005. http://www.chimpanzoo.org/ceboidea.html. Retrieved July 2009.
^ Jacobs, G. H.; Neitz, M.; Deegan, J. F.; Neitz, J. (1996). "Trichromatic colour vision in New World monkeys". Nature 382: 156–158. doi:10.1038/382156a0.
^ Sean B. Carroll (2006). The Making of the Fittest. W.W. Norton and Company. ISBN 9780393061635.
^ New World Monkeys at Animal Corner
^ http://anthro.palomar.edu/primate/prim_5.htm
^ Robert W. Shumaker & Benjamin B. Beck (2003). Primates in Question. Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1588341763.
^ Sellers, Bill (2000-10-20). "Primate Evolution" (PDF). University of Edinburgh. pp. 13–17. http://homepage.mac.com/wis/Personal/lectures/human-origins/PrimateEvolution.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-23.

[edit] Further reading

Schneider, H. (2000). "The current status of the New World Monkey phylogeny". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 72: 165–172. doi:10.1590/S0001-37652000000200005.
Opazo, J. C.; et al. (2006). "Phylogenetic relationships and divergence times among New World monkeys (Platyrrhini, Primates)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40 (1): 274–280. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.11.015.

[edit] External links

Wikispecies has information related to: New World monkey

"Primate Hunting Reaches Crisis Point in Latin America". Spiegel Online international. March 13, 2007. http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,471471,00.html.
Geographic Distributions of Amazonian Primates - Tomas and Marc van Roosmalen, Pdf 3,2 Mb

[msw3-0] Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M.. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 128-152. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.

[SAP-1] Rylands AB and Mittermeier RA (2009). "The Diversity of the New World Primates (Platyrrhini)". in Garber PA, Estrada A, Bicca-Marques JC, Heymann EW, Strier KB. South American Primates: Comparative Perspectives in the Study of Bahavior, Ecology, and Conservation. Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-78704-6.

[2] "Platyrrhini and Ceboidea". ChimpanZoo. 2005. http://www.chimpanzoo.org/ceboidea.html. Retrieved July 2009.

[3] Jacobs, G. H.; Neitz, M.; Deegan, J. F.; Neitz, J. (1996). "Trichromatic colour vision in New World monkeys". Nature 382: 156–158. doi:10.1038/382156a0.

[4] Sean B. Carroll (2006). The Making of the Fittest. W.W. Norton and Company. ISBN 9780393061635.

[5] New World Monkeys at Animal Corner

[6] ttp://anthro.palomar.edu/primate/prim_5.htm

[PQ-7] Robert W. Shumaker & Benjamin B. Beck (2003). Primates in Question. Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1588341763.

[Sellers-8] Sellers, Bill (2000-10-20). "Primate Evolution" (PDF). University of Edinburgh. pp. 13–17. http://homepage.mac.com/wis/Personal/lectures/human-origins/PrimateEvolution.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-23.

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