РПаЎ±б <> ATELES

Scientific Name:

Ateles A. paniscus A. belzebuth A. fusciceps A. geoffroyi

Common Names:

Spider Monkey (in same order) A. Black Spider Monkey A. Long haired spider monkey A. Brown headed spider monkey A. Black headed spider monkey

Physical Descriptors:

Slender body with limbs, long prehensile tail and a prominent abdomen. Head is small with well marked muzzle; the fur is variable in color, texture, and length.

Color varies from black (paniscus), brownish-black (fusciceps), black or brown with paler underparts and a paler trianglar patch on the forehead (belzebuth), golden, red, buff or dark brown with and feet generally black (geoffroyi).

Body weight ranges from 5470 grams to 5824 grams. Body length from 370mm to 630mm. Tail length ranges from 630mm to 920mm (Napier 59).

Seven neck vertebrae become elongated to produce a greater flexibility of the neck. However the back vertebrae are more variable the total number of segments in this part of the column being between seventeen and twenty (Simons 86).

Normally spider monkeys have eliminated the reduced thumbs but in 20% of the Ateles belzebuth and in 8% of the Ateles geoffroyi there still exists a perfectly useless rudiment of this digit.

Geography:

Coastal forests of Mexico, Central America, and of South America, including Pacific Costal forests. Amazon and Orinoco, North bank of the lower Amazon including the Guianas, South bank of the lower Amazon between Tocantins and Topajas (Napier 59).

Habitat:

Found in the lowland rain forests and mountain forests slopes of the Andes: Tend to occupy small branches of high strata (Napier 59).

Food:

Fruits and nuts; also bud and flowers (Napier 59).

Population Structure:
Group size range from ten to forty; the young amount to 30% of the total group, the adult males 25%, and adult females the remaining 46% (Shultz 235-237).

Reproductive Strategy:

Single births. Menstrual cycle 24-27 days. Gestation; 139 days. Weight at one year 2000 grams (Napier 58- 59).

Current Conditions:

Successfully maintained in outdoor colonies at several zoos. Seven to eight years is average for zoo life (Napier).

References:

The Life of Primates: Adolph L. Shultz. 1969.

A Handbook of Living Primates: J.R. Napier and P. H. Napier. 1967.

Primate Evolution: Elwyn L. Simons. 1972.
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