Where Primates Live

Where Do Primates Live?

A Video, Lessons, and Activities

A lesson and activity for understanding where in the world primates live and the need to preserve and protect their natural habitats.

1. Watch:

Start by watching the brief video above, Where in the World Do Primates Live? The video takes you on a tour of the world to visit the continents on which primates naturally live. Human primates, of course, inhabit every continent. What about our primate cousins? Where do they come from? Just as importantly, where do they NOT come from? This question invites conversations and lessons about why monkeys and apes are living in parts of the world that are unnatural for them.

Have fun while learning!

2. Play, Discover, and Learn

With 5 distinct Lessons and Activities, this is a lesson and activity for discovering where in the world primates live and the need to preserve and protect their natural habitats. Our Primates Habitat Matching Game is a perfectly suited accompanying activity.

5 Lessons and Activities follow:

Primates 101
The Difference Between New World and Old World Monkeys
Where Nonhuman Primates Do NOT Belong
Find Your Favorite Primate Species
Primate Habitat Matching Game
Ethical Dilemmas

Lesson 1: Primates 101

What are primates?

Primates are placental mammals* that typically have flexible hands and feet with opposable thumbs*, fingernails, forward facing color vision, and highly developed brains.

There are 703 species and subspecies of primates. 50% of primate species are endangered and 25% could be extinct within 20 years. Those are chilling numbers.

Are all primates monkeys? NO!

The biological order of primates is divided into the following classifications:

Great Apes: Orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, lowland gorillas, mountain gorillas, humans

Lesser Apes: Gibbons

Higher Primates: Neotropical* monkeys and Old World monkeys

Prosimians: The oldest, most primitive order of primates; includes lorises, pottos, bush babies (galagos), tarsiers and lemurs.

Learning Goals:

Introduction to world geography as pertains to natural primate distribution and habitats
Discover to which continents nonhuman primates are native
Realize that human primates inhabit all continents
Discover the natural worldwide distribution of nonhuman primates
Learn what primates are, and the differences in their biological order
Learn the differences between great apes, lesser apes, monkeys, and prosimians
Learn the differences between Old World and New World monkeys

Objectives:

Learn that human primates inhabit all continents and impact the viability of our nonhuman cousins
Understand the need to protect nonhuman primate habitats and, thereby, and the primates that live in them
Understand where in the world nonhuman primates belong and where they do not belong
Consider the ethical dilemmas inherent in keeping nonhuman primates where they do not belong
Understand that 50% of primate species are at risk of extinction
Understand that primates need to live wild in their natural habitats, and not in unnatural captive conditions

Research and Learn:
Explore the internet to look up the differences between great apes, lesser apes, monkeys, and prosimians?

What are their major differentiating characteristics?
What are the differences in where and how they live?
What else can did you learn about their differences?

What Does It Mean?

Placental Mammals: Any member of the mammalian group characterized by the presence of a placenta, which facilitates exchange of nutrients and wastes between the blood of the mother and that of the fetus. The placentals include all living mammals except marsupials and monotremes. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Opposable Thumb: A thumb that can be placed opposite the fingers of the same hand. Opposable thumbs allow the digits to grasp and handle objects and are characteristic of primates.
Neotropical: Of or denoting a zoogeographical region consisting of South America, Central America, and North America south of the tropic of Cancer.

Lesson 2: What's the Difference Between New World and Old World Monkeys?

New World Monkeys

New World monkeys are found from southern Mexico to Central and South America, except in the highest mountains
They are more primitive than Old World monkeys.
Their brains are considered less complex than those of Old World monkeys
Their thumbs, when present, are not opposable*
Their nostrils are further apart and tend to point outward
Most have 36 teeth
They have slender bodies and limbs with long narrow hands
Most have a prehensile* or partially prehensile tail
New World monkeys include marmosets, tamarins, titis, capuchins, spider monkeys, woolly monkeys, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, owl monkeys, the sakis, and the uakaris.

Old World Monkeys

Old World monkeys are found in southern Asia, with a few species as far north as Japan and northern China, and in all of Africa except the deserts
Most, but not all, have opposable thumbs
The tails of Old World monkeys are never prehensile
Their nostrils are close together and tend to point downward
Many species have cheek pouches* to hold food, and many have thick pads on their buttocks
They have 32 teeth
Old World monkeys are more closely related to the apes and humans than they are to the New World monkeys
Old World monkeys include the many species of macaques, baboons, mandrills, mangabeys, colobus, langurs, vervets, lemurs, galagos, pottos, tariers, lorises, patas, proboscis, guenons, and snub-nosed monkeys.

All apes are found in Old World regions.

Research and Learn:
Research and list some other differences between New World and Old World monkeys.

What Does It Mean?

Opposable: Capable of being placed opposite to something else.
Prehensile: Adapted for seizing, grasping, or taking hold of something.
Cheek pouches: A sac in the cheek of certain animals in which food may be carried.

Lesson 3: Where Nonhuman Primates Do NOT Belong

Worldwide Distribution of Nonhuman Primates

Learning Activity:
Take a look at the world map above. It depicts the natural worldwide distribution of nonhuman primates.

Where do nonhuman primates NOT naturally live?
Why do you think they do not live there?
Why do they live where they do?
Why are they in countries and regions in which they do not belong?
What are the ethical dilemmas of keeping them in countries outside of their native habitats?

Lesson 4: Name That Species

Learning Activity:

Find your favorite primate species

Visit Primate Species Profiles to find you favorite primate species and learn more about it. Write an essay or draw a picture that depicts:

Where does that primate species live?
Are they from the New World or Old World?
How do they live?
What do they eat?
How do they communicate?
How does their habitat influence what they eat, how they behave, and how they communicate?
What are some fun facts about that primate species?
What is the species' conservation status?
What are the threats to the future of the species?

Lesson 5: Primates Habitat Matching Game

Learning Activity and Game

Primates Habitat Matching Game
An Activity for Understanding That There Are Many Different Species of Primates Living in Many Diverse Habitats

Did you know that some monkeys live in cities? And some live in semi-deserts? And some live in snowy climates? Match 33 primate species to 8 habitats. Find out what countries they live in and whether they are monkeys, prosimians, or apes. And play the Primates Habitat Matching Game.

Print the Game Cards and Play

Here's what the game board and species cards look like.
Click on the red Primate Habitat Matching Game title to download the Game Board and Species Cards.

Sample habitat board

Sample primate species cards

Additional Resources:

From this website:

Other Resources:

IUCN Red List

Back to Lessons and Activities Index page

Copyright © New England Primate Conservancy 2016. You may freely use, copy and share these Learning Activities for educational purposes.
For questions or comments, e-mail us at humane_ed@neprimateconserancy.org.

Where Do Primates Live?​A Video, Lessons, and Activities