19 Crucial Difference between Monkey and Ape with Pictures

What is the difference between monkey and ape?

Primates are part of the human family tree. Monkeys and apes are primates since they share common characteristics. However, there is a slight difference between monkeys and apes.

The core difference between monkeys and apes is that monkeys have tails while apes do not have tails. The key areas to consider is the size of the brain, mental capabilities, and the lifespan.

Difference between Monkey and Ape

What is a Monkey?

Monkeys are small primates with long tail and they live in trees of tropical forest. Monkeys are grouped as old world monkeys and new world monkeys.

Old-world monkey belongs to the superfamily Cercopithecoidea, and new-world monkey belongs to the superfamily Platyrrhini.

What is an Ape?

Ape refers to large primates that do not have a tail. All apes belong to the superfamily Catarrhini. They are grouped as great apes and lesser apes.

The great apes belong to the family Hominidae while lesser apes belong to the family Hylobatidae.

Comparison Chart: Monkey vs Ape

Basic Terms	Monkey	Ape
Meaning	Small primates with long tails	Large primates without tails
Parvorder	Both monkeys belong to Platyrrhini and Catarrhini	Catarrhini
Number of Species	Around 260 known species	Around 23 known species
Habitat	Mostly found in Asia, Africa, Central, and South America.	Mostly found in Africa and South Asia.
Lifespan	30 years	60 years
Brain Size	Small brains	Large brains
Body Size	Small body with a quadrupedal position.	Large body with upright posture
Chest	Narrow chest	Wider chest
Limbs	Have equal heights	Upper limbs are longer than lower limbs
Shoulders	Small and narrow shoulders	Have strong and flexible shoulders
Straightening of Arms	Do not straighten at the elbow	Fully straightened at the elbow
Tail	New world monkey has long tail while the old world monkey has a short tail	Lack of tail
Moving in Trees	Run along with the trees by jumping and tail help to bring balance	Swing from branch to branch
Diet	Feed on fruits, plants, and insects	Feed on fruits, plants, and small vertebrates
Sense	Smell	Vision
Intellectual Capabilities	Lower	Higher
Usage of Tools	No tools	Uses hunting, nut-cracking, and for play tools
Evolutionary Scale	Lower level	Closer to humans
Examples	Old-world monkey and new-world monkey	Great apes and lesser apes

Core Difference Between Monkey and Ape

Examples of monkeys are old world and the new world while apes are great and lesser apes
Monkey have a lower level of evolutionary scale while apes have evolutionary scale closer to those of humans
Apes uses tools for hunting, nut cracking, and play while monkeys do not have tools
Intellectual capabilities of apes are higher while that of monkey is lower
Monkeys rely on smell sense while apes on vision sense
Monkeys feed on fruits, seeds, leaves, and insects while apes eat fruits, seeds, leaves, and small invertebrates
Monkeys run on top of trees while apes swing from one branch to another
Monkeys have long and flexible tail while apes do not have a tail
Apes can straighten arms at the elbow fully while monkeys cannot straighten their arms
Apes have stronger and flexible shoulders while monkeys have small and narrow shoulders
Limbs of have monkeys have equal length while upper limbs of apes are longer than those of lower limbs
Apes have a wider chest while monkeys have narrower chest
Monkeys have a small body with a quadrupedal position while apes have a large body with upright posture.
Monkeys have a smaller brain size while apes have a larger brain size
The lifespan of monkeys is 30 years while that of apes is about 60 years
Apes are found in Africa and South Asia while monkeys in Asia, Africa, Central, and South America.
The number of monkey species is about 260 while apes are about 23
Monkeys belong to both Platyrrhini and Catarrhini while apes belong to the parvorder Catarrhini.
Monkeys are small primates with a long tail while apes are large primates without tails.

Similarities between Monkey and Ape

Both are primates
Both are omnivores
Both are large and have a complex brain size
Both belong to the infraorder.
Both have limbs
Both have a flat face and smaller ears
Both have dexterous fingers
Have flexible limbs
Both have short and dense hair except on face
Both belong to the suborder Anthropoidea.

Comparison Video

Summary

The core difference between monkeys and apes is that monkey has longer and flexible tail while ape has no tail. Both belong to primates though monkeys are smaller than apes.