Primates

Apes are creatures closely related to humans. Unlike monkeys, apes have no tails. Apes include gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans.

There are lots of different kinds of baboon. They are a kind of monkey. They live in Africa, on the ground, not in trees. Baboons have long muzzles like dogs, tails, and male baboons often have a mane.

Baboons eat mostly plants, fruit and insects, but will also eat fish and small animals.

Chimpanzees, or just chimps, are the closest relatives to people. They have dark hair, and can grow up to 5'6" and 70kg as adults. They are very intelligent, and live in complex social groups. Chimpanzees eat mainly fruit.

Gibbons are a family of apes. They are smaller than great apes like gorillas and look more similar to monkeys.

Gorillas are related to people, and like people they do not have tails. Male gorillas grow to around 5'5" to 6 feet high, and can reach 140-200kg. Female gorillas grow to about half this size. Gorillas eat fruit, leaves and sometimes insects.

Humans are a species that originally came from Africa, hundreds of thousands of years ago. Humans are social, and are strong communicators - in language, writing and drawing. Humans have the most advanced tool use of any creature on Earth.

Lemurs are a kind of monkey that only lives on Madagascar. They live mainly in trees and come out at night time to eat fruit, flowers, leaves, insects and small animals.

Monkeys are distantly related to people. There are many different kinds of monkey, ranging in size from a few inches long to as big as a person. Different kinds of monkey eat different things, but usually they eat at least some of fruit, leaves, insects, eggs and small animals. All monkeys have tails.

Orangutans are reddish-brown apes that live in trees, and are the largest animal that lives entirely in trees. They can weigh up to 113kg, but are usually around 33-82kg. Their arms are twice as long as their legs. Orangutans live almost entirely on fruit, but will also eat leaves, honey and eggs.