### The world of Monkeys — Fascinating.
There doesn’t seem to be anything more captivating than monkeys in the animal kingdom, extremely smart, agile, and a social creature. Now I want to talk about some things in their life — their physical traits, their habits, their daily lives, their diet, their lifecycle, and so forth.
#### Speed, Length, Height, and Weight
Monkeys exhibit a wide range of physical characteristics depending on their species:
- **Speed:** Monkeys are amazingly agile in spite of their names, and it doesn’t take much to glance up at the tree and see one scamper around 35 miles an hour. They need to be fairly swift to get away from predators and get about in their forested habitat.
- **Length:** Monkeys come in a wide range of sizes. ** As an example, the very smallest monkeys, pygmy marmosets, measure in at 5-6 inches in body length, not including the tail. One of the largest species, mandrills can be up to 3 feet long.
- **Height:** Unlike height, which is not commonly measured, height that’s measured is the standing height of monkeys that can even grow up to 2 to 3 feet high as the baboons.
- **Weight:** Monkeys also do not come with the same weight. Mandrill individuals weigh up to 77 pounds, pygmy marmosets weigh about 3.5 ounces.
#### Habitat and Behavior
Monkeys may be in tropical rainforests, savannahs and highlands. Distribution of these is recorded in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Evolutionary success as to their ability to adapt to different habitats has helped them survive.
#### Daily Activities
Diurnal … monkeys are active day … Their daily routines often include:
- **Foraging:** One big part of their day is ** searching for food.
- **Socializing:** Monkeys are [highly social animals], and many of their time is spent in what can be best described as 'grooming, playing and maintaining social bonds.'
- **Traveling:** [They] pass through their habitats in search of food, water and shelter.
- **Resting:** Often when monkeys rest they may be in trees or on the ground.
#### Diet
But they are omnivores, and their main diet is plant based. Common components include:
- Fruits
- Leaves
- Seeds
- Flowers
So some monkeys even eat insects, small animals and bird eggs being a very variable and versatile diet.
#### Birth and Lifecycle
The lifecycle of a monkey is as fascinating as their behavior:
- **Birth:Although most monkeys gestate a sole young at a time, twins are rare but possible. The gestation period varies in the species from 4 to 8 months.
- **Infancy:** The mothers of new born monkeys do everything for that sort of intense care. During early months they depend on their mothers for nourishment and protection.
- **Adolescence:** It’s a natural way for young monkeys to learn essential survival skills of how they should live in their troop by observing and mimicking adults in this troop.
- **Adulthood:** Sexual maturity vary from 3 to 5 years depending on the species.
- **Lifespan:With help, monkeys can live from 10 to 50 years depending on the size, with the bigger monkeys living longer on the average.
#### Death and Predators
Big cats, birds of prey and snakes threaten the monkeys. Deforestation and hunting also cause serious threats to Human activities. Some die of natural causes, some die of disease, others are killed by predators, still others perish from the environment.
### Conclusion
Monkeys are marvellous animals with tremendous importance in nature’s ecology. With a better understanding of their physical traits, habits, and behaviours this can also help us appreciate these intelligent, social creatures in a whole new way. It’s our responsibility to protect their habitats and their life.