Guiana spider monkey, Red-faced black spider monkey
The red-faced spider monkey (Ateles paniscus ) also known as the Guiana spider monkey or red-faced black spider monkey, is a species of spider monkey found in the rain forests in northern South America.
The species faces issues with hunting and habitat loss, so is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Redlist.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FrugivoreA frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. Approx...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
An omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and ani...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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ZoochoryZoochory animals are those that can disperse plant seeds in several ways. Seeds can be transported on the outside of vertebrate animals (mostly mam...
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ScansorialScansorial animals are those that are adapted to or specialized for climbing. Many animals climb not only in tress but also in other habitats, such...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe Red-faced spider monkey is a species of spider monkey that lives in South America. These monkeys have long, black hair and a red or pink face that is bare except for a few short, white hairs. Infants are born with dark faces, which lighten as they age. Red-faced spider monkeys have a prehensile (capable of grasping) tail and their fingers and limbs are long, agile and strong.
Red-faced spider monkeys are found in northern South America. They live in northern Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana. Red-faced spider monkeys inhabit undisturbed primary rainforests.
Red-faced spider monkeys are arboreal animals. Because of their ability to climb and jump, they tend to live in the upper layers of the trees and forage in the high canopy. These monkeys are social and associate with large groups of up to 30 individuals during the night, but choose to spend the days traveling, foraging, and resting in much smaller groups. At dusk, they recongregate using a greeting call to communicate. At night, they often sleep in large groups called bands. Bands typically consist of several females, with their respective young, along with a few males for protection. Red-faced spider monkeys communicate with each other vocally by using grunts, screams, whistles, and barks, which warn others of predators or places where food can be found. Visual communication includes scratching their chests, shaking tree branches, throwing objects from trees, nodding their heads, and swinging their arms.
Red-faced spider monkeys are herbivores (frugivores, folivores). They feed primarily on a very wide variety of fruits, which comprise most of their diet. They also will eat young leaves and flowers, young seeds, floral buds, roots, bark and honey. Sometimes Red-faced spider monkeys may eat small insects such as termites and caterpillars.
Red-faced spider monkeys are polygynandrous (promiscuous), which means that both males and females have many partners during every breeding season. Females give birth to 4 infants every 3 to 4 years. The gestation period lasts around 226-232 days. During the first 2-3 months of life, infants cling to their mother's body and later from 6-9 months of age, young ride on their mother's backs. At 10 months infants begin to explore their environment independently, however, they still spend most of their time near their mother. At 15-18 months of age, infants begin to travel independently from their mother. Red-faced spider monkeys become reproductively mature at 4 to 5 years of age. Males often stay in their natal group but females leave to find potential mates and may return to their natal group to give birth to their offspring.
The main threats to Red-faced spider monkeys include hunting and habitat loss. These monkeys have a very slow reproductive rate giving birth to infants only every 3-4 years which affects the decline of their populations even more.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Red-faced spider monkey total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are decreasing.
Due to their frugivorous diet, these monkeys disperse seeds of various plants they consume. This way they highly benefit the local ecosystem.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...