Most of the differences can be described in terms of physical characteristics and evolutionary development over time. Given that lemurs and humans are both primates, for example, you can see that there are significant differences between the many different types of primates. Except for humans, most primates are agile tree-dwellers. Primates are distinguished by having hands, handlike feet, and forward-facing eyes. There are more than 300 species of primates on Earth, including human beings and other apes, monkeys, and prosimians, such as lemurs. There are definite differences between the two, though.īefore looking at differences, it's important to know that apes and monkeys are both primates.

In fact, many people today will refer to apes as monkeys and vice versa. Who were these creatures eating bananas? Were they monkeys? Could they have been apes? Or were they both? Exactly what is the difference between apes and monkeys anyway?įor much of history, people have used the terms 'monkey' and 'ape' interchangeably. We tried to get a closer look at them, but we slipped on a banana peel and…well…we don't remember much after that! Monkey: No way! You know I go ape for bananas!Īpe: Here's the last one. We were wandering through the heart of the Wonderopolis jungle the other day when we overheard an interesting conversation between a couple of hairy creatures:Īpe: Don't you think you've had enough already?

Gorilla vs ape