Main Difference
The main difference between Ape and Monkey is that the Ape is a superfamily of mammals and Monkey is a animal of the “higher primates” (the simians), but excluding the apes
Ape
Apes (Hominoidea) are a branch of Old World tailless simians native to Africa and Southeast Asia. They are the sister group of the Old World monkeys, together forming the catarrhine clade. They are distinguished from other primates by a wider degree of freedom of motion at the shoulder joint as evolved by the influence of brachiation. In traditional and non-scientific use, the term “ape” excludes humans, and is thus not equivalent to the scientific taxon Hominoidea. There are two extant branches of the superfamily Hominoidea: the gibbons, or lesser apes; and the hominids, or great apes.
The family Hylobatidae, the lesser apes, include four genera and a total of sixteen species of gibbon, including the lar gibbon and the siamang, all native to Asia. They are highly arboreal and bipedal on the ground. They have lighter bodies and smaller social groups than great apes.
The family Hominidae (hominids), the great apes, includes three extant species of orangutans and their subspecies, two extant species of gorillas and their subspecies, two extant species of chimpanzees and their subspecies, and one extant species of humans in a single extant subspecies.Except for gorillas and humans, hominoids are agile climbers of trees. Apes eat a variety of plant and animal foods, with the majority of food being plant foods, which can include fruit, leaves, stalks, roots and seeds, including nuts and grass seeds. Human diets are sometimes substantially different to that of other apes due in part to the development of technology and a wide range of habitation. Humans are by far the most numerous of the ape species, in fact outnumbering all other primates by a factor of several thousand to one.
Most non-human hominoids are rare or endangered. The chief threat to most of the endangered species is loss of tropical rainforest habitat, though some populations are further imperiled by hunting for bushmeat. The great apes of Africa are also facing threat from the Ebola virus. Currently considered to be the greatest threat to survival of African apes, Ebola is responsible for the death of at least one third of gorillas and chimpanzees since 1990.
Monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to groups or species of mammals, in part, the simians of infraorder Simiiformes. The term is applied descriptively to groups of primates, such as families of New World monkeys and Old World monkeys. Many monkey species are tree-dwelling (arboreal), although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Most species are also active during the day (diurnal). Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent, especially the Old World monkeys of Catarrhini.
Simians and tarsiers emerged within haplorrhines some 60 million years ago. New World monkeys and catarrhine monkeys emerged within the simians some 35 million years ago. Old World monkeys and Hominoidea emerged within the catarrhine monkeys some 25 million years ago. Extinct basal simians such as Aegyptopithecus or Parapithecus [35-32 million years ago], eosimiidea and sometimes even the Catarrhini group are also considered monkeys by primatologists.Lemurs, lorises, and galagos are not monkeys; instead they are strepsirrhine primates. Like monkeys, tarsiers are haplorhine primates; however, they are also not monkeys.
Apes emerged within “monkeys” as sister of the Cercopithecidae in the Catarrhini, so cladistically they are monkeys as well. There has been some resistance to directly designate apes (and thus humans) as monkeys despite the scientific evidence, so “Old World monkey” may be taken to mean the Cercopithecoidea or the Catarrhini. That apes are monkeys was already realized by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in the 18th century.Monkeys, including apes, can be distinguished from other primates by having only two pectoral nipples, a pendulous penis, and a lack of sensory whiskers.
Ape (noun)
A primate of the clade Hominoidea, generally larger than monkeys and distinguished from them by having no tail.
Ape (noun)
Any such primate other than a human.
Ape (noun)
An uncivilised person.
Ape (noun)
One who apes; a foolish imitator.
Ape (verb)
To behave like an ape.
Ape (verb)
To imitate or mimic, particularly to imitate poorly.
Ape (adjective)
Wild; crazy.
“We were ape over the new look.”
“He went ape when he heard the bad news.”
Monkey (noun)
Any member of the clade Simiiformes not also of the clade Hominoidea containing humans and apes, from which they are usually, but not universally, distinguished by smaller size, a tail, and cheek pouches.
“He had been visiting an area zoo when a monkey swung from its tree perch, swiped his glasses and hurled them into a hippo hole.”
Monkey (noun)
Any nonhuman primate, including apes.
“Chimpanzees are known to form bands to hunt and kill other monkeys.”
Monkey (noun)
A mischievous child.
“Stop misbehaving, you little monkey!”
“She’s a cheeky monkey.”
Monkey (noun)
A dance move popular in the 1960s.
Monkey (noun)
Five hundred pounds sterling; five hundred dollars.
Monkey (noun)
A person or the role of the person on the sidecar platform of a motorcycle involved in sidecar racing.
Monkey (noun)
A person with minimal intelligence and/or an unattractive appearance
Monkey (noun)
A face card.
Monkey (noun)
A menial employee who does a repetitive job, as in code monkey, grease monkey, phone monkey, powder monkey.
Monkey (noun)
The weight or hammer of a pile driver; a heavy mass of iron, which, being raised high, falls on the head of the pile, and drives it into the earth; the falling weight of a drop hammer used in forging.
Monkey (noun)
A small trading vessel of the sixteenth century.
Monkey (noun)
A drug habit; an addiction; a compulsion.
Monkey (noun)
A fluid consisting of hydrochloric acid and zinc, used in the process of soldering.
Monkey (verb)
To meddle; to mess (with).
“Please don’t monkey with the controls if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“interfere|fiddle”
Monkey (verb)
To mimic; to ape.
Ape (noun)
a large primate that lacks a tail, including the gorilla, chimpanzees, orangutan, and gibbons.
Ape (noun)
used in names of macaque monkeys with short tails, e.g. Barbary ape.
Ape (noun)
(in general use) any monkey.
Ape (noun)
an unintelligent or clumsy person.
Ape (noun)
an inferior imitator or mimic
“cunning is but the ape of wisdom”
Ape (verb)
imitate (someone or something), especially in an absurd or unthinking way
“new architecture can respect the old without aping its style”