Ape / Monkey

Monkeys are mammals of the order of primates, generally arboreal, with often glabrous faces and characterized by a developed brain and long limbs ending in fingers. Although their resemblance to humans has always struck people, science has taken many centuries to prove the close link that exists between them and the human species.

Within the primates, the apes form a monophyletic infra-order, if we include the genus Homo, named Simiiformes and which is divided between the apes of the "New World" (Central and South America) and those of the Old World” (tropical Africa and Asia). The latter include the hominoids, also called “great apes”, of which Homo sapiens and his closest ancestors belong.

Even if there is no longer any doubt today that "man is an ape like the others", the expression is mainly used to talk about wild animals, and evokes a cultural, literary and artistic reference that excludes human race.