1. The monkeys are renowned for their ability to soar through the air between branches and will share the aviary with African grey parrots.
2. Colobus monkeys were given their name because of their shortened thumbs: “kolobós” is from an ancient Greek word for “docked”.
3. In general, monkeys have tails, apes do not…
4. …but the Barbary ape, which lacks a tail, is a monkey.
5. There are over 250 known species of monkeys.
6. These are divided into Old World monkeys living in Africa and Asia and New World monkeys in South America.
7. In Thailand in 2009 female monkeys were observed teaching their offspring how to floss their teeth using strands of hair.
8. A “monkey” is slang for £500 but it is unclear why. Some say a monkey was pictured on Indian 500 rupee notes but there is no evidence of this.
9. Evolutionarily, apes diverged from monkeys about 25 million years ago.
10. London’s colobus troop are named after human bones including two called Mandible and Anvil.