We use extant and fossil Old World monkeys (Superfamily Cercopithecoidea, Family Cercopithecidae) to provide a broader context for evaluating the evolutionary history of the hominin genus Paranthropus. Specifically, we compare the evolutionary history of African cercopithecoids with that of Paranthropus to evaluate whether its proposed phylogenyPhylogeny and biogeographyBiogeography is typical or unique among large-bodied catarrhines during the African Plio-Pleistocene. Cercopithecoids form a useful group for this purpose as they are thought to be broadly similar in ecologyEcology compared to fossil hominins, and they occur at many of the same fossil sites. Furthermore, they are significantly more speciose with a larger, well-documented fossil record compared to other catarrhine groups such as hominoids. In particular, we use the well-established phylogenyPhylogeny for extant papionins to evaluate if the morphological features used to support the monophylyMonophyly of Paranthropus are more prone to homoplasyHomoplasy than are cranial features in general. We also compare the biogeographic pattern of Paranthropus, represented by separate allopatric species in eastern and southern AfricaSouth(ern) Africa, to that of 13 contemporary cercopithecid genera or higher taxa. We find that the characters supporting the monophylyMonophyly of Paranthropus are no more prone to homoplasyHomoplasy among extant cercopithecids than are other cranial morphological characters. The biogeographic pattern of Paranthropus species is different from that of all contemporary fossil cercopithecids, but may be similar to that of extant Papio(Guinea baboon). Finally, we review a few specific examples from cercopithecoid evolution that may be useful comparators for thinking about Paranthropus’ evolutionary history.