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Stephenson:Neal:The Confusion:591:Prehensile tails(David Mix Barrington)

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This is The Confusion page on monkeys

Stephensonia

SiamangandcolobusMW.jpg

A Colobus and a Siamang Jack observes "monkeys with prehensile tails" at the Pirate Queen's palace in Malabar, India.

Authored entries

  • TBA

David Mix Barrington's observation

This is surprising as Old World monkeys do not have prehensile tails -- only New World monkeys do. There are several possible ways to reconcile this: 1. Jack is not using modern zoologists' definition of "prehensile tail". A lay observer of the Old World gibbon or siamang, for example, would see it use its tail in swinging around, but not to actually grasp things. 2. The wealthy and eccentric Pirate Queen has for some reason imported some New World monkeys. 3. These monkeys are from a species (order? family?) unknown to modern zoologists. 4. Stephenson did not know it. 5. This is a gift of another cryptozoological enigma

Wikipedia: Monkey

Monkey_batu.jpg
Cynomolgus monkey
at Batu Caves, Malaysia
These are the typical local monkeys
similar to the languars

A monkey is a primate that isn't a prosimian (or a tarsier) or an ape. Put more technically, it is any haplorhine primate not belonging to the families Tarsiidae, Hylobatidae, and Hominidae. This rather unsatisfactory definition results from the fact that the animals called monkeys do not correspond to any single taxon in modern scientific classification. The name is used both for the Old World monkeys (family Cercopithecidae) and New World monkeys (families Cebidae, Nyctipithecidae, Pitheciidae and Atelidae). However the Old World monkeys are part of a larger group, the catarrhines, which also includes the apes. Because of their size and similarity to monkeys, chimpanzees are sometimes incorrectly called monkeys even though they are apes.

Because they are not a single coherent group, monkeys do not have any important characteristics that they all share and are not shared with other groups. They 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 savannah; 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. Although all, like the apes, have forward facing eyes, the faces of Old World and New World monkeys look very different. To understand the monkeys, therefore, it is necessary to study the characteristics of the different groups individually.

Classification

Crab-eating Macaque

The monkey most likely Jack observed would be the Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fascicularis) is an arboreal macaque native to South-East Asia. It is also called the Cynomolgus Monkey or Long-tailed Macaque.

It is used extensively in medical experiments, in particular those connected with neuroscience. It has also been identified as a possible vector for monkeypox. It is one of the types of monkeys that have been flown into space.

It is found throughout most of South-East Asia, including the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, as well as in the country of the Philippines. These monkeys are often unafraid of humans, and are found in many cities and villages. A population of Crab-eating Macaques, fed by locals, lives in the middle of the city of Lopburi in Thailand.

Crab-eating Macaques are born with black fur, but the fur turns to a yellow-green, grey-green, or reddish-brown shade as they grow. They have dark snouts, and bluish abdominal skin. They live in groups of between 20 to 60 individuals. Generally there are about 2.5 adult females for every adult male. They live for about four years in the wild, but in captivity have been known to live for up to 38 years.

There is some significant diversity within the species and these differences are classified into 10 subspecies: 1. Macaca fascicularis fascicularis 2. Macaca fascicularis aurea 3. Macaca fascicularis umbrosa 4. Macaca fascicularis atriceps 5. Macaca fascicularis condorensis 6. Macaca fascicularis fusca 7. Macaca fascicularis lasiae 8. Macaca fascicularis tua 9. Macaca fascicularis karimondjawae 10. Macaca fascicularis philippinensis

New World Monkeys

The New World monkeys or Platyrrhines are the four families of primates that are found in Central and South America, the Cebidae, Nyctipithecidae, Pitheciidae and Atelidae. All families differ from the Old World monkeys and apes in having long, often prehensile tails. The name means "flat nosed", and this is how they are distinguished from Old World monkeys. Platyrrhine noses are flatter, with side facing nostrils, compared to the narrow noses and downward facing nostrils of Old World Monkeys. Many are small, arboreal and nocturnal, so our 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.

Old World Monkeys

The Old World monkeys or Cercopithecidae are a group of primates, falling in the superfamily Cercopithecoidea in the clade Catarrhini. From the point of view of superficial appearance, they are unlike apes in that most have tails (the family name means "tailed ape"), and unlike the New World monkeys in that their tails are never prehensile. Technically, the distinction of catarrhines from platyrrhines depends on the structure of the nose, and the distinction of Old World monkeys from apes depends on dentition.

Several Old World monkeys have anatomical oddities. The colobus has a stub for a thumb; the proboscis monkey has an extraordinary nose; the penis of the male mandrill is colored red and the scrotum has a lilac color, while the face also has bright coloration like the genitalia and this develops in only the dominant male of a multi-male group.

The Old World monkeys are native to Africa and Asia today, but are also known from Europe in the fossil record. They include many of the most familiar species of non-human primates.

The monkey in Buddhist literature

Journey to the West (Traditional Chinese: 西遊記; Simplified Chinese: 西游记; pinyin: Xī Yóu Jì, WG: Hsi Yu Chi) is a classic of Chinese literature, and perhaps the most well-known amongst the younger generation. It was published anonymously in the 1590s, and no direct evidence of its authorship survives, but it is traditionally ascribed to the scholar Wu Cheng'en. The novel tells a fictionalized and mythologized version of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India.

In the novel, the monk Xuanzang (玄藏) is called by the Bodhisattva Guan Yin to travel to India to obtain copies of certain important Buddhist texts that are not available in China. He is accompanied on his journey by three disciples - the monkey king Sun Wukong (孫悟空), the pig-monster Zhu Wuneng (豬悟能), and the river monster Sha Wujing (沙悟淨) - who have agreed to help him along the way as an atonement for past sins. His horse is a reincarnation of a dragon prince.

The book is a reflection of how thoroughly Buddhism in Chinese Buddhism had combined with Daoism and Confucianism in China.

One of the supernatural helpers, the monkey king Sun Wukong, has become one of the most famous and beloved characters in Chinese literature. His recognition factor and popularity in Asia have been compared to those of Mickey Mouse in Western countries (although, considering his personality, Bugs Bunny might be a better comparison).

Part of the novel's enduring popularity comes from the fact that it works on multiple levels: it is an adventure story, a dispenser of spiritual insight, and an extended metaphor in which the group of pilgrims journeying toward India stands for the individual journeying toward enlightenment.

Most famous adaption of Journey to the West's Monkey — Dragon Ball's Son Goku

| | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Japanese 孫悟空 | Romaji Goku| Anime Dragon Ball| DB Canon original Mangaby Akira Toruyama | First Appearance Issue #1 | Race Saiyan| *Family Connections Bardock (father) Raditz (brother) Chi-Chi *(wife) Son Gohan (son) Son Goten (son) | | | | | | |*

Zodiac

The Monkey is the ninth in the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. See: Monkey zodiac.

  • TBA
  • Monkey - live action television series based on Journey to the West
  • Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z (Japanese manga series loosely inspired by Journey to the West)
  • Dragon Ball (original series)|Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, anime versions of the Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z manga
  • Gensomaden Saiyuki (another anime inspired by the myth)
  • Journey to the West - a great live action TV series from China. It covers most episodes; later there was a part two to complet the whole novel (for example "The Cave of Red Gold", home to Laozi's oxen who has turned into a demon)

Notable English-language translations of Journey to the West

  • ISBN 0140441115 Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China (1942), an abridged translation by Arthur Waley. For many years, the best translation available in English language; it only translates thirty out of the hundred chapters. (Penguin reprint)
  • ISBN 0226971457 Journey to the West (1977-1983), a complete translation in four volumes by Anthony C. Yu.
    University of Chicago Press: HC