Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys; suborder Simiiformes, superfamily Cercopithecoidea) A family that, in some arrangements, comprises all existing Old World monkeys; some authors restrict the family to the group that is otherwise classified as the subfamily Cercopithecinae, animals with the characteristics of the superfamily. The family, as commonly conceived, includes two subfamilies: Cercopithecinae, including Papio (baboons), Mandrillus (mandrills), Theropithecus (geladas), and Cercopithecus (guenons) of Africa, and Macaca (macaques) of Asia; and Colobinae (sometimes raised to the family rank as Colobidae), including Colobus (colobus monkeys) of Africa, and Presbytis and related genera (e.g. P. entellus, the entellus langur of India, and Pygathrix nemaeus, the douc langur of south-east Asia), Rhinopithecus (snub-nosed monkeys) and Nasalis (proboscis monkeys) of Asia. Rhinopithecus species, found in high forests of Tibet and north-western China, are langurs with short, projecting noses; they may be the ‘abominable snowmen’ of legend. Nasalis larvatus of Borneo has the cercopithecid nose developed to an extreme: up to 17 cm long in adults. There are 8–20 genera, with about 80–5 species, distributed throughout Africa and Asia.

Catarrhini (cohort Unguiculata, order Primates) A suborder (or infra-order) of primates that includes Old World monkeys, apes, and humans. Many authorities place the Catarrhini with the Platyrrhini and Tarsioidea in a single suborder, Haplorrhini. The earliest-confirmed catarrhines are known from the Oligocene of Egypt, though possible representatives are known from the Eocene of Burma.

Old World monkeys See CERCOPITHECIDAE.