Smartest monkey in the world – Monkeys such as chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans are known to be some of the world’s most intelligent animals. With genetic makeup that is so close to humans, their intelligence has been studied for many years.
Therefore, it’s no secret that monkeys are some of the most intelligent animals on the planet. For centuries, scientists have used them for research and experimentation due to their high intelligence and ability to learn new tasks quickly.
In an early 2000 study, researchers found that monkeys can understand symbolic representations of objects and concepts. The study featured two Rhesus macaques. Researchers showed these macaques different images on a computer screen. The monkeys had to choose between two symbols representing different actions for each image.
Here are the Most Smartest Monkey in the World;
1. Snow Monkey
Another highly recognizable type of monkey, snow monkeys (Japanese macaques) are found throughout the islands of Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu in Japan. These furry monkeys have a thick coat of tan-colored fur and pink faces with strikingly human-esque characteristics.
Snow monkeys (Japanese macaques) are the most smartest monkey in the world. They are highly intelligent animals and have been observed washing dirt off food in rivers and even playing with snowballs and rocks. They are also hugely communicative, making a range of facial and visual cues to express emotion.
They prefer to live in some of the coldest regions of Japan where they seek out thermal springs for warmth. Indeed, they’ll often be found gathering in groups in thermal baths that are heated by Japan’s geothermal activity.
Furthermore, snow monkeys are known for being highly sociable. They live in social groups where they pass along certain behaviors, like making snowballs just for fun, from generation to generation.
Thankfully, snow monkeys are one of the least threatened primate species. They are currently listed as a species of least concern and their population seems to be increasing.
2. Barbary Macaque
Europe’s only primary species, the Barbary macaque is found throughout northern Africa and in a small, isolated part of Gibraltar on the European mainland. They are medium-sized primates with thick fur and pink faces that are known to get very habituated to humans, particularly in Gibraltar.
The Barbary macaque is believed to have been introduced to Gibraltar between the years 700 and 1500 as they were kept as pets by the Moors. However, the population of the macaque in Gibraltar was completely wiped out by disease in the 1900s, so officials reintroduced them to the region from North Africa.
Interestingly, the Barbary macaque is one of the few Old World monkey species that does not have a tail. Furthermore, they are highly social monkeys that like to live in troops of up to about 60 individuals.
3. Crab-Eating Macaque
The crab-eating macaque has a highly organized social structure with dominant males and females. Male dominance is determined by size, age, and fighting. Usually the strongest, oldest males are the alpha males of the group. Like any king, they enjoy the perks of the best access to fruit and first choice in mates.
Contrary to their name, crab-eating macaques don’t actually eat crabs. Rather they live in parts of southeastern Asia, particularly around Indonesia and the Philippines, where they prefer to eat fruit.
They have an excitable personality and a highly social disposition, though they have sometimes become pests in densely-populated human environments. However, fighting within the monkey’s social groups is common, though the crab-eating macaque has also been seen reconciling with others after a fight.
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4. Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey
Golden snub-nosed monkeys are very smart, vocal, producing 18 types of calls. These primates have a remarkable ability to communicate in a ventriloquist-like manner, showing no visible sign of moving their mouth. However, their vocalizations often correspond with facial movements.
One of the most visually striking types of monkeys, the golden snub-nosed monkey, also known as the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey, is a highly sociable type of Old World monkey that lives in a small, fragmented area of the Tibetan Plateau in China.
These beautiful primates have long, golden orange fur coats and bright blue faces. Due to the extreme habitats that they call home, scientists believe that they’ve evolved to have flattened snub boats to protect them against frostbite.
In fact, it’s believed that the golden snub-nosed monkey is the most cold-tolerant of all non-human primate species.
While these monkeys do live in forested terrain, the frigid winter temperatures of the Tibetan Plateau can easily drop well below freezing. When this happens, the golden snub-nosed monkey is known to huddle with its young and other members of its social group to stay warm.
5. Proboscis Monkey
The proboscis monkey, or long-nosed monkey, is a stunning primate that lives in mangrove forest areas in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. The proboscis monkey is best known for its spectacularly large nose, which is much more evident in males than in females.
Proboscis monkeys’ large nose is believed to be an echo chamber. In fact, scientists believe that this echo chamber helps to amplify the male proboscis monkey’s call to females in order to help them attract a mate.
These monkeys prefer to live in wetlands, coastal areas, swamps, and other low-lying regions where they can find their preferred food: leaves. Interestingly, proboscis monkeys have a unique multi-chambered stomach that’s specifically designed to help them digest leaves.
Proboscis monkeys leap from tree limb to tree limb, they have frequently been spotted hitting the water with an entertaining belly flop. Considered the ‘primate world’s most prolific swimmers’, they’ve even evolved webbed feet and hands. Their potbellies are also a result of their ability to adapt to this remote part of the planet.
6. Roloway Monkey
The Roloway monkey lives mostly in dense forests where it feeds off of various fruits, insects, seeds, and leaves. They tend to live in large troops that travel as a group through their native habitat.
Roloway monkey are also among the most smartest monkey in the world. Like humans, these primates peel bananas before eating, since they do not consume the skin. As Old World monkeys, the Roloway monkeys possess 32 teeth, whereas New World monkeys usually have 36 teeth. The Roloway monkey is one of the 96 Old World monkeys.
7. Rhesus Macaque
Traditionally found throughout southern and central Asia, the rhesus macaque is a small, tan-colored monkey with a pink face. Rhesus macaques are very resilient monkeys and they seem to be unperturbed by environmental issues and deforestation.
They can be found in a range of environments, including forests, cities, mountains, and deserts. As a result, they are considered to be a species of least concern as they tend to find a way to survive in inhospitable landscapes.
