In this article we are going to explain the Characteristics of the Changos, what they are, the types that exist and what the habitat of this primate is like, its customs and habits, as well as interesting facts about these friendly mammals that are located in many parts of the planet. . We invite you to read this article.
What is Chango?
A monkey or monkey is called a mammal and primate animal, which shares its zoological classification (taxon) with the human being and physically and behaviorally resembles it more than any other animal in the world. In fact, monkeys are animals endowed with high intelligence. It is a close relative of our species, although not as much as other types of primates such as the gorilla or the chimpanzee.
Scientifically they are superior animals, which have a high level of intelligence, which allows them to be sociable creatures, have a hierarchical organization and solve problems in a very original way.
There are approximately 260 species of monkey or monkey in the world, the vast majority of which are arboreal. Each of the species has a different name that is often used in a common way as if they were more or less synonymous, such as macaques, baboons, monkeys, and several others. The name monkey is also used as a synonym for ape, although zoology distinguishes them because the latter do not have a tail.
Characteristics of the Changos
The monkeys are mammalian vertebrate animals, which belong to the order of primates and the platyrrhine families, which are the monkeys of the new world, and cercopithecoids, which are the monkeys of the old world, different from the apes, closer to man, also they have received the name of hominoids, as is the case of the orangutan, the chimpanzee, the gorilla or the gibbons. The difference is that they have a tail, a more primitive skeleton and, in general, a smaller size.
Habitat
The monkey abounds in areas such as Central and South America. The habitat of the monkey is the warm and jungle areas found in the equatorial region, although each species has been able to adapt to specific conditions in savannahs and forests.
In the American continent, the monkeys are much more abundant in the areas of Central America, South America and Mexico. If we look for them in Europe, we will find them in the Gibraltar area, but in particular, we can find them in the African and Asian jungles.
Evolution
The lack of understanding of the theory of the evolution of the species of Charles Darwin has led to the popular belief that the monkey is an ancestral relative of the human being, when in reality it is a distant relative.
What seems to be scientifically true is that all primates would come from a common ancestor, which left aside all other land mammals and climbed the trees, approximately 65.000.000 million years ago. During this period, life was abundant in birds and mammals and began to adapt to new habitats, such as the arboreal.
This protoprimate would have been the father of the lemurs, lorises and similar species, thus giving way to an evolutionary branch that was capable of giving rise to the existence of the first primates with a tail, around forty million years ago, it being speculated that such a phenomenon occurred in the Asian continent.
Behavior
Monkeys are sociable animals, they lead a common life organized by hierarchies and have the ability to provide affection, company and attention in parallels that are reminiscent of human behavior. Groups that are stable are managed with energetic, enduring relationships around a male or group of males who are considered leaders. The females have the habit of staying all their lives in their birth group.
These groups of monkeys become aware of and abide by the hierarchies of their society, in which each of the individuals has a certain position and share habits such as mutual grooming, using this practice as a way to strengthen the bond between them.
Longevity
The average life expectancy of monkeys varies according to the species to which it belongs. The smallest species can live up to 10 years, while the largest species can live up to 50 years of age.
Food
The diet of the monkeys is very varied, it can be said that they are preponderantly omnivar, although they prefer fruits, seeds, bark, insects and common species whose habitat is found in the treetops. However, it is not uncommon for some species to hunt rodents and small birds, or even prey on other smaller monkey species.
Reproduction
The monkeys, according to their species, can be polygamous or monogamous until death. According to their life cycle, they can reach sexual maturity at 18 months or approximately 8 years, and their gestation period is between 4 and 8 months, and at the time of delivery, the normal is have one or two babies.
Displacement of the Chango
The monkeys have limbs that have adapted to the treetops, making their feet and hands have the same prehensile level, this with the sole purpose of being able to hold onto the branches more firmly. Thus, it is possible that they can move with great speed and agility. But when they are on flat ground, on the other hand, their movement is difficult because they do not have flatter feet, like humans, to support them.
Diversity of the Chango
There are more than 270 known and recorded species of monkeys, about 135 in the old world and 135 in the new world, so they are very balanced. These range from small and agile monkeys such as the American Marmoset, to species of great size and wingspan such as the spider monkey or the famous baboon.
The body difference, especially in what is related to the hair, the proportions and other features is very high, so those species that are native are simply distinguishable and normally become icons of the fauna and biodiversity of the different regions. in which they live.
New World Monkeys
They are monkeys of the parvorden Platyrrhinni and of the families Cebidae, Aotidae, Atelidae, Callitrichidae and Pitheciidae, as is the case of spider monkeys, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, marmosets and tamarins. They are descendants of the monkeys of the Old World, and although it has not been possible to know exactly how they arrived in America, what is very likely is that the first ancestors arrived in South America first, thanks to the islands that were in the ocean. Atlantic about 40 million years ago.
Do Changos think?
According to a recent study of monkeys under anesthesia it is suggested that they have a default mode of brain activity. And another study of awake macaques published in 2009 showed that they suppressed neural activity in the posterior cingulate cortex while trying to carry out a specific task.
Another experiment carried out with chimpanzees, which are the closest primates to humans, also suggests that their brains can bring their memories into the present. But no positron emission tomography studies have yet been done to determine whether monkeys have the same kind of default brain activity as humans.
Conservation status of the Chango
Many species of monkeys are threatened or endangered species, due to the loss of their habitat, due to logging and deforestation that leave them without their homes. In addition, many of their specimens are hunted as trophies or exterminated by farmers, who perceive them as a threat to their crops. Of these, 25 species are considered seriously endangered, particularly in Madagascar, with 6 species, Vietnam with 5 species, and Indonesia with 3 species.
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