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It is more comfortable to feel that we are a slight improvement on a monkey than such a fallin’ off from the angels. Finley Peter Dunne
Darwinian man though well behaved, is really but a monkey shaved! Gilbert & Sullivan, Princess Ida
Monkey songs, monkey souvenirs, monkey jokes – H L Mencken called it Monkey Town. The Monkey Trial, PBS 2002
What is Man? Man is a noisome bacillus whom Our Heavenly Father created because he was disappointed in the monkey. Mark Twain
In 2004 on the Island of St Kitts people noticed monkeys coming in from the surrounding jungle and stealing cocktails. Dr John Marsden, Horizon: Do I Drink Too Much? 2009
With one exception all monkeys sleep at night. David Attenborough, Life on Earth XII: Life in the Trees ***** BBC 1979
The Marmosets are the smallest of the monkeys. ibid.
There are about seventy different species of monkey in South America alone. ibid.
Every jungle has its monkey troops. David Attenborough, The Living Planet IV: Jungle, BBC 1984
Some monkeys however have particular specialities. David Attenborough, The Life of Mammals IX: Social Climbers, BBC 2002
Pygmy Marmoset – the smallest monkey in the world. ibid.
Monkeys of many kinds travel side by side. ibid.
There’s a ruthless class system in monkey society. ibid.
Most monkeys couldn’t live up here. No fruit and few insects to feed on. But chaladas are unique: they are the only monkeys in the world to live almost entirely on grass. They live in the largest assemblies formed by any monkeys; some groups are eight hundred strong, and they crop the high meadows like herds of wildebeest. David Attenborough, Planet Earth s2: Mountains, BBC 2006
Volcanoes: many of them are still active. And in a region called Hell’s Valley some snow monkeys have found the perfect winter resort. A thermal spa where the water temperature is a blissful 41° Centigrade. David Attenborough, Life: Primates e10, BBC 2009
Brown-tufted capuchins combine manual dexterity with considerable intelligence. And they have learned to use tools: hammer-stones with which to open palm-nuts. Some of the stones are nearly half the weight of the monkey. Without tools, opening these nuts would be an impossible task. Tool-using was a major breakthrough in primate evolution. ibid.
Few odder than these proboscis monkeys: 1956 Zoo Quest for a Dragon. Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild I: BBC 2012
Black Lion Tamarin monkeys: only around a thousand animals left in the world. Attenborough’s Ark: Natural World Special, BBC 2012
Marmosets are the smallest of the seventy or so species of monkey in South America. David Attenborough: Life on Earth: Mammals (revised series)
Many African monkeys have shown a readiness to come down to the ground. ibid.
Some animals have intriguing ways of protecting their skin. The hippopotamus lives in Africa under the hot tropical sun yet it doesn’t get sunburnt. And capuchin monkey live in insect-infested jungles but hardly ever get bitten. Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities s3e5: Curious Cures, W 2015
The clever moneys know exactly how to make the best use of nature’s remedies … the capuchins anoint themselves far more in the wet season when mosquitoes are more abundant. ibid.
Meet the blue-faced, golden-coated snug-nosed snow monkey. They are among the heftiest of monkeys … The whole group snuggles together at the slightest opportunity to keep warm. David Attenborough, Seven Worlds, One Planet II: Asia, BBC 2019
A few patches of forest still remain. One in Colombia is the home of one of the world’s rarest monkeys: cotton-topped tamarins. They are critically endangered. They live largely on fruit and are particularly fond of tree sap: this is packed with sugars, so it also attracts insects. David Attenborough, Seven World, One Planet III: South America
Gibraltar: Home to Europe’s only monkeys. Barbary Macaques. Four family troops live here. David Attenborough, Seven World, One Planet V: Europe, BBC 2019
They’ve [Balinese macaques] worked out that we simply can’t survive without our phones or our wallets … The macaques are playing us at our own game. David Attenborough, Planet Earth s3e7: Human, BBC 2023
Arthur looked up. ‘Ford!’ he said. ‘There’s an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about the script for Hamlet they’ve worked out’. Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
With our present knowledge of animal psychology and genetics we could certainly solve the servant problem with the help of the monkey kingdom. Arthur C Clarke, Horizon, BBC 1964
I confess freely to you, I could never look long upon a monkey, without very mortifying reflections. William Congreve, 1670-1729
A little girl abducted from her home. And abandoned deep in the Colombian jungle. She says she survived there for around five years alone without human contact. And the only thing that stood between her and certain death was a troop of rainforest monkeys. Now more than fifty years later she’s on a quest. Woman Raised By Monkeys, National Geographic 2013
Marina showed an unusually powerful unconscious response to the images of capuchins. ibid.
I think the discomfort that some people feel in going to the monkey cages at the zoo is a warning sign. Carl Sagan, The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God
The jungles of Borneo are home to some of the most unusual primates on the planet. Dr George McGavin, Monkey World I, BBC 2014
Roughly 400 species of primate in the world. ibid.
In the 21st century the ultimate challenge to any monkey is living alongside the most successful primate of all – humans. ibid.
Bonobos along with chimpanzees are our closest cousins. Dr George McGavin, Monkey World II
Gibraltar: the only wild monkeys in all of Europe. ibid.
Bonobos are peaceful, considerate and caring. ibid.
Macaques ... also like to steal hair – and they use it as dental floss. Dr George McGavin, Monkey World III
Capuchins have the largest relative brain size of all the monkeys. ibid.
Once again, humans are not descended from monkeys. We share a common ancestor with monkeys ... Huge leaps in a single generation – which is what a monkey giving birth to a human would be – are almost as unlikely as divine creation. Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth p155
Not much bigger than an orange the Pygmy Marmoset is the smallest monkey in the world: they live in the largest tropical forest on our planet – the Amazon rain-forest. Nature’s Miniature Miracles: Natural World, BBC 2017
A frozen forest. Hidden here is a remarkable animal rarely seen: the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey. The highest living monkey in the world. They have no nose to get frost-bitten … To prevent freezing to death they must huddle together for warmth. Mountain: Life at the Extreme, BBC 2017
Costa Rica: Home to some of the most intelligent monkeys in the world … These white-faced capuchins are in a perilous position … These monkeys should have an innate fear of humans … Tourists are only fuelling this bad behaviour. Cities: Nature’s New Wild III, BBC 2019