Rainforest Monkey

Howler Monkeys, Squirrel Monkeys and Spider Monkeys are some common rainforest monkey names.

But there is such a huge list of their categories, classifications, families, species etc as to make it both very confusing and interesting at the same time to understand them.

Animals in general can be classified in hierarchies starting with the name "Domain" at the top of the classification ladder or chart, whose scientific name is Taxonomic Classification.

There are different domain classification systems which are generally looked up to.

One is a two domain system in which the domain names are:

Prokaryote Domain
Eukaryote Domain

Let us try to understand the hierarchy of this system by looking at the following chart :

Hierarchy

Rainforest Monkey Classification

Domain

1. Prokaryote Domain
2. Eukaryote Domain

Rainforest Monkeys belong to the Eukaryote Domain
They have Multicellular Organisms

Eukaryote Domain consists of 6 Kingdoms

1. Protista
2. Archaebacteria
3. Eubacteria

4. Fungi
5. Plantae
6. Animalia

Kingdom
Animalia

Animals and humans belong to the animalia kingdom because of several commonalities between them.
They both start as embryos and later develop into bodies with tissues, muscles, limbs, digestive chambers and so on.

Phylum
Chordate:
Groups of
animals with Vertebrates

Divided into : 3 Sub Phylums

1. Urochordata
2. Cephalochordata
3. Vertebrata.
The Sub Phylum is divided into:
Infra Phylums and Super Classes.
Under the Sub Phylum Vertebrata, there is a Super Class Tetrapoda, which means four legged vertebrates, we get the Series Amniota, meaning amniotic egg. This branches into different classes, one of which is Mammalia.

Class
Mammalia

Vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in females for the nourishment of the young.

Order

One of the Orders is Primate, which consists of 3 groups

1. Prosimians
2. New World Monkeys
3. Old World Monkeys & Apes.

These are again divided into
Sub Orders and Infra Orders.

Family

Super Families and Families of Primates from Sub Orders & Infra Orders.

Genus

Name of the Organism

Species

A genus is a basic unit & contains one or more Species

There are 4 New World rainforest monkey families which are:

Aotidae
Atelidae
Cebidae
Pitheciidae

Let us have a look at the Taxonomic Classification table below showing a brief list of the categories:

			Taxonomic Classification
1	Domain		Eukaryote
2	Kingdom		Animalia
3	Phylum		Chordate
4	Class		Mammalia

5	Order		Primate
		Prosimians	New World Monkeys	Old World Monkeys & Apes
		Aye-ayes	Capuchins	Baboons
		Galagos	Howler Monkeys	Colobus Monkeys
		Indris	Marmosets	Drills
		Lemurs	Muriquis	Guenons
		Lorises	Owl Monkeys	Langurs
		Pottos	Sakis	Leaf Monkeys
		Sifakas	Spider Monkeys	Macaques
			Squirrel Monkeys	Vervets
			Tamarins
			Titis
			Uakaris
			Woolly Monkeys

6	Family		4 Families
			Aotidae
			Atelidae
			Cebidae
			Pitheciidae

7	Genus		Several genera
8	Species		Several species

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