Editing New World monkey (section)

== Characteristics ==
[[File:Puebla - Museo Amparo - Singe, classique, états théocratiques, influence du style Remojadas, Totonala.JPG|thumb|[[Remojadas]]-style ceramic sculpture of a monkey at the [[Amparo Museum]]]]

[[New World]] monkeys are small to mid-sized primates, ranging from the [[pygmy marmoset]] (the world's smallest monkey), at {{convert|14|to|16|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} and a weight of {{convert|120|to|190|g|oz|abbr=on}}, to the [[southern muriqui]], at {{convert|55|to|70|cm|in|abbr=on}} and a weight of {{convert|12|to|15|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. New World monkeys differ slightly from [[Old World monkey]]s in several aspects. The most prominent phenotypic distinction is the nose, which is the feature used most commonly to distinguish between the two groups. The clade for New World monkeys, Platyrrhini, means "flat nosed". The noses of New World monkeys are flatter than the narrow noses of Old World monkeys, and have side-facing nostrils.

New World monkeys are the only monkeys with [[prehensile tail]]s—in comparison with the shorter, non-grasping tails of the anthropoids of the Old World. Prehensility has evolved at least two distinct times in platyrrhines, in the Atelidae family (spider monkeys, woolly spider monkeys, howler monkeys, and woolly monkeys), and in capuchin monkeys (''Cebus'').<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rosenberger|first=Alfred L.|date=1983|title=Tale of tails: Parallelism and prehensility|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.1330600114|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|language=en|volume=60|issue=1|pages=103–107|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330600114| pmid=6869497 |issn=1096-8644}}</ref> Although prehensility is present in all of these primate species, skeletal and muscular-based morphological differences between these two groups indicate that the trait evolved separately through convergent evolution.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Xu|first1=Emily|last2=Gray|first2=Patricia M.|date=2017-07-28|title=Evolutionary GEM: The Evolution of the Primate Prehensile Tail|url=https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/wurjhns/article/view/5142|journal=Western Undergraduate Research Journal: Health and Natural Sciences|volume=8|issue=1|doi=10.5206/wurjhns.2017-18.4|issn=1923-757X|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lockwood|first1=Charles A.|last2=Fleagle|first2=John G.|date=1999|title=The recognition and evaluation of homoplasy in primate and human evolution|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|language=en|volume=110|issue=S29|pages=189–232|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(1999)110:29+<189::AID-AJPA7>3.0.CO;2-3| pmid=10601987 |issn=1096-8644|doi-access=free}}</ref> The fully prehensile tails that have evolved in Atelidae allow the primates to suspend their entire body weight by only their tails, with arms and legs free for other foraging and locomotive activities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sehner|first1=Sandro|last2=Fichtel|first2=Claudia|last3=Kappeler|first3=Peter M.|date=December 2018|title=Primate tails: Ancestral state reconstruction and determinants of interspecific variation in primate tail length|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.23703|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|language=en|volume=167|issue=4|pages=750–759|doi=10.1002/ajpa.23703| pmid=30341951 | s2cid=53008537 }}</ref> Semi-prehensile tails in ''Cebus'' can be used for balance by wrapping the tail around branches and supporting a large portion of their weight.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Emmons|first1=L. H.|last2=Gentry|first2=A. H.|date=1983|title=Tropical Forest Structure and the Distribution of Gliding and Prehensile-Tailed Vertebrates|journal=The American Naturalist|volume=121|issue=4|pages=513–524| doi=10.1086/284079 | jstor=2460978 | s2cid=85211169 |issn=0003-0147}}</ref>

New World monkeys (except for the [[howler monkey]]s of genus ''Alouatta'')<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jacobs |first=G. H. |author2=Neitz, M. |author3=Deegan, J. F. |author4= Neitz, J. |year=1996 |title=Trichromatic colour vision in New World monkeys |journal=Nature |volume=382 |issue= 6587|pages=156–158 |doi=10.1038/382156a0 |pmid=8700203|bibcode=1996Natur.382..156J |s2cid=4305822 }}</ref> also typically lack the [[trichromacy|trichromatic]] vision of Old World monkeys.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Making of the Fittest | publisher = W.W. Norton and Company | year = 2006 | author = Sean B. Carroll | isbn = 978-0-393-06163-5}}</ref> Colour vision in New World primates relies on a single gene on the [[X-chromosome]] to produce pigments that absorb medium and long wavelength light, which contrasts with short wavelength light. As a result, males rely on a single medium/long pigment gene and are [[Dichromacy|dichromatic]], as are [[homozygous]] females. [[Heterozygous]] females may possess two alleles with different sensitivities within this range, and so can display [[trichromatic]] vision.<ref>{{cite journal| title = Recent evolution of uniform trichromacy in a New World monkey| journal = Vision Research| doi = 10.1016/S0042-6989(98)00078-9| volume = 38| pmid = 9893843| issue = 21| pages = 3315–3320| date = December 1998| author = Pamela M Kainz |author2=Jay Neitz |author3=Maureen Neitz| s2cid = 11967994|author3-link= Maureen Neitz| doi-access = free}}</ref>

Platyrrhines also differ from Old World monkeys in that they have twelve [[premolar]]s instead of eight; having a [[dental formula]] of {{DentalFormula|upper=2.1.3.3|lower=2.1.3.3}} or {{DentalFormula|upper=2.1.3.2|lower=2.1.3.2}} (consisting of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 2 or 3 molars). This is in contrast with Old World Anthropoids, including [[gorilla]]s, [[chimpanzee]]s, [[bonobo]]s, [[siamang]]s, [[gibbon]]s, [[orangutan]]s, and most [[human]]s, which share a dental formula of {{DentalFormula|upper=2.1.2.3|lower=2.1.2.3}}. Many New World monkeys are small and almost all are [[arboreal locomotion|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 [[monogamy in animals|monogamous]] [[pair bond]]s, and show substantial [[paternal bond|paternal care]] of young.<ref>[http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/wildlife/monkeys/monkey_newworld.html New World Monkeys at Animal Corner]</ref> They eat fruits, nuts, insects, flowers, bird eggs, spiders, and small mammals. Unlike humans and most Old World monkeys, their thumbs are not [[opposable thumb|opposable]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.palomar.edu/anthro/primate/prim_5.htm | title=The Primates: New World Monkeys}}</ref> (except for some [[Cebidae|cebid]]s).