Lemurs vs Monkeys
Both lemurs and monkeys are primates with different characteristics. Therefore, it would be interesting to discuss those. The distinctions in their body forms and other characteristics are important to notice. The distribution and diversity are other important aspects to be considered when it comes to lemurs and monkeys. This article attempts to discuss most of those important characteristics of these fascinating primate creatures and concludes with a comparison between lemurs and monkeys.
Lemurs
Lemurs are one particular group of animals of the Order: Primates that enriches the exclusiveness of the island Madagascar. That is because the lemurs are endemic to Madagascar. According to certain scientific descriptions, there are about 100 species, but some scientists believe there are only about 50 species. The significance of these animals is very high despite the controversies about their number, because all these species are found only in one island of the whole world. The body sizes vary drastically through the species in lemurs. Their body formation is important to consider, as they have a long tapering snout, a slender body, and a bushy tail. They have five digits in each limb with opposable thumbs, but the grasp is not firm as in other primates. The bushy tail is long and strong, maintains the balance of the body while leaping through the branches of trees. A dominant female leads the social group, and that saves a lot of energy spent by males in being the dominant one in the food scarce ecosystems. Lemurs have scent glands located on wrists, elbows, genital regions, and neck. They are very sensitive for olfaction, as well. Their food habits could be either omnivorous or herbivorous depending on the species concerned. The large bodied lemur species are more often herbivorous than omnivorous, and species with small body sizes mostly feed on both plant and animal matter.
Monkeys
It would be extremely difficult to discuss monkeys in one paragraph, due to the extent of diversity and the interest that they bring. However, there are two types of monkeys known as old world and new world according to the geographical regions that they are present. Altogether, there are more than 260 extant species of monkeys. They demonstrate one of the greatest variations in sizes. The smallest member, Pygmy Marmoset, is only 140 millimetres tall with a weight of 4 – 5 ounces, while the largest member, Mandrill, could weigh up to 35 kilograms and can be as tall as 1 metre at their standing posture. Monkeys show great adaptations for an arboreal life, which is to climb and leap among trees. However, there are some species of monkeys prefer to live in the savannah grasslands. Monkeys feed on an omnivorous diet more often than on herbivorous or carnivorous diets. Usually, they do not stand in the upright posture, but walk with all four limbs most of the time. There are differences between new world and old world monkeys, as well; new world monkeys have a prehensile tail and colour vision in their eyes, but not in the old world species. All the monkeys have five digits with an opposable thumb in each limb to have a firm grasp. Additionally, they also have the binocular vision as all other primates. They are long-lived animals, as some species have their lifespan up to 50 years, but some could live only 10 years.
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What is the difference between ? • Diversity is much higher among monkeys in terms of the number of species as well as the body sizes compared to lemurs. • Monkeys have been evolved with a small nose, but lemurs have a long snout. • Lemurs have better olfaction sense compared to monkeys. • Lemurs are old world primates, and monkeys could be the new world primates. • Lemur is endemic to Madagascar, but the monkey is found everywhere. • Monkeys have the better gasp in arms than in lemurs. • Lemurs have scent glands in different places but not in monkeys.
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