Monkeys are haplorhine primates, a group generally possessing tails and consisting of about

260 known living species. There are two distinct lineages of monkeys: New World
Monkeys and catarrhines. Apes emerged within the catarrhines with the Old World monkeys as a
sister group, so cladistically they are monkeys as well. However, traditionally apes are not
considered monkeys, rendering this grouping paraphyletic. The equivalent monophyletic clade
are the simians. Many monkey species are tree-dwelling (arboreal), although there are species
that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Most species are also active during the day
(diurnal). Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent, particularly Old World monkeys.
Lemurs, lorises, and galagos are not monkeys; instead they are strepsirrhine primates. Like
monkeys, tarsiers are haplorhine primates; however, they are also not monkeys. There are two
major types of monkey: New World monkeys (platyrrhines) from South and Central America and
Old World monkeys (catarrhines of the superfamily Cercopithecoidea) from Africa and
Asia. Hominoid apes (consisting of gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans),
which all lack tails, are also catarrhines but are not considered monkeys. [3](Tailless monkeys may
be called "apes", incorrectly according to modern usage; thus the tailless Barbary macaque is
sometimes called the "Barbary ape".) Simians ("monkeys") and tarsiers emerged
within haplorrhines some 60 million years ago. New World monkeys and catarrhine monkeys
emerged within the simians some 35 millions years ago. Old World monkeys
and Hominoidea emerged within the catarrhine monkeys some 25 millions years ago. Extinct
basal simians such as Aegyptopithecus or Parapithecus [35-32 million years ago] are also
considered monkeys by primatologists.