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Region: South and Central America Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Cebidae Genus: Ateles Scientific Name: Ateles geoffroyi geoffroyi
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Description:
Spider monkeys have small heads with prominent muzzles. Their legs and tail are very long in proportion to the body length. Thumbs are greatly reduced or non-existent. Hands are hook-like. Their muscular tail is the most mobile and dexterous prehensile tail of any primate, the underside of the last 25 cm is covered with finely ridged skin to provide grip. The nose is platyrrhini (“broad nosed”) or with a broad nasal septum. Males and females are approximately the same weight and size.
Length of body and head: 38.2 - 63.5 cm
Length of tail: 50.8 - 89.0 cm
Weight: 8 - 9 kg
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Distribution:
Central Mexico, Bolivia, and Brazil.
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Habitat:
Tropical rainforests of Central and South America.
Tree dwellers in the lower and upper canopy of the rain forest.
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Food:
They eat mostly fruit, along with nuts, seeds, buds, flowers, insects, and eggs
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Reproduction and Development:
There is no regular breeding season. After a gestation period of 226-232 days a single offspring is born. The young is carried on the mother's abdomen for about four months, then carried on the back. Infants use their prehensile tail to hold onto the mother's tail. The young remain dependent on the mother until about 10 months old. Sexual maturity is reached at 4 years of age for females and 5 years of age for males. Life expectancy is 25 years.
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Adaptations:
The most outstanding physical adaptations are the prehensile tail and the hook-like hands - both making the spider monkey ideal for arboreal life. The prehensile tail is longer than the monkeys' body and composed of twenty-three vertebrae, which gives it suppleness and strength. It is longer and narrower than any of the monkey's other limbs and can be used to reach farther and into smaller places than can the animal’s arms and legs. The monkey can hang by it, swing by it, pick fruit with it, even throw things with it. The shoulders are very flexible which allows them to swing from tree to tree. Spider monkeys are social animals and tend to form groups of approximately thirty individuals. For the most part, these large groups split into smaller subgroups of 3-4 individuals to forage and only for a few weeks out of the year is the whole group together. Group size varies with habitat type and seems to depend largely on the productivity of the area. These spider monkeys live mainly in the top of the tree canopy where they forage diurnally. They tend to feed heavily in the early morning and to rest for the remainder of the day.
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Threats to Survival:
Poaching and habitat destruction are the main threats.
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Status:
Vulnerable
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Zoo Diet:
Monkey chow, mixed fruit, soft bill gelatin, browse, alfalfa, vitamin E, Vitamin C, vitamin-mineralized supplement, mineralized salt block.
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Animal Fact Sheet
The New Tundra Trek