OLD WORLD MONKEY

also called Catarrhine, any of certain anthropoid primates of Africa and Asia, as distinguished from the New World monkeys (platyrrhines), which are found in Central and South America. The term may be used only for members of the family Cercopithecidae (guenons, baboons, and others), or it may also cover the families Hylobatidae (gibbons), Pongidae (apes), and Hominidae (human beings). Characteristics that generally distinguish the Old World monkeys from New World ones include close-set nostrils directed forward or down, bony ear passages, a nonprehensile tail, if any, and two premolars in each half of each jaw.