White-bellied spider monkey
The white-bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth ), also known as the white-fronted or long-haired spider monkey, is an endangered species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey. It is found in the north-western Amazon in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil, ranging as far south as the lower Ucayali River and as far east as the Branco River. In the past, the Peruvian, brown and white-cheeked spider monkeys have been treated as subspecies of A. belzebuth. As presently defined, the white-bellied spider monkey is monotypic. It has a whitish belly and a pale patch on the forehead, which, despite its common name, often is orange-buff, though this might be due to dirt and other stainers. They live in groups of 20 to 40 individuals, splitting into small parties of 1 to 9 when in activity.
Vernacular names include mono prieto, mico prieto and marimonda (Colombia).
Over the last 45 years (3 generations), the population has declined by approximately 50% due to habitat loss and hunting. Because of this, A. belzebuth is listed as endangered by the IUCN.
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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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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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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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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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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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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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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PolygamyPolygamy is the practice of breeding with multiple partners. When a male breeds with more than one female at the same time – it is called polygyny....
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
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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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They live in social groups that operate using fission-fusion dynamics. These groups are characterized by fragmenting into subgroups that travel, feed and sleep together. These groups display great fluidity and will often change composition, sometimes changing several times each day. The composition of these groups can be influenced by the reproductive status of females. Females are usually more solitary than males, but females with dependent offspring are more likely to join a large group than those without dependent offspring. Females will also usually remain in small core ranges within their home territories with their offspring while males will utilize more of their home range. These subgroups are brought together with long distance vocalizations. These long distance vocalizations can be up to a kilometer away. There is no evidence of secondary dispersal in wild spider monkeys. Therefore, males in these groups are closely related to each other.
ir home territories with their offspring while males will utilize more of their home range. These subgroups are brought together with long distance vocalizations. These long distance vocalizations can be up to a kilometer away. There is no evidence of secondary dispersal in wild spider monkeys. Therefore, males in these groups are closely related to each other.
All members of Ate), and this species has an intermembral index of 105. They have a fairly dorsally placed scapula to allow for increased mobility involved in brachiation. Their prehensile tail with a hairless gripping pad at the end also allows for their mobility, which then means they have increased caudal vertebrae, with about 31 caudal vertebrae as opposed to another platyrrhine like Cebus with only 23 on average. This tail allows for additional grasping of branches, which means there is less lateral movement while brachiating which increases efficiency. The hairless gripping pad of the underside of the tip of their tail is often compared to a finger, since it allows surface gripping. Their curved hands with long metacarpal bones allows for easy brachiation. They do not have an external thumb, which sets them apart from most other primates.
The diet of White-bellied spider monkeys is 83% mature fruits and they are important to the seed dispersal of many fruit-bearing species. They carry a relatively high number of intact seeds in their gut and intake relatively large amounts of fruit pulp when compared to some other monkey species within their range. They also are likely to return to previous food sources and spend relatively little time foraging. A. belzebuth is a generalist frugivore that doesn't specialize in a particular fruit type but do appear to prefer fruits with high lipid content, high sugar content, or fruits produced by trees with high fruit productivity. They will also feed on other plant parts such as leaves, flowers, and bulbs, and will very rarely consume small insects. A. belzebuth has also been observed engaging in geophagy.
White-bellied spider monkeys are believed to achieve sexual maturity at between 4 and 5 years of age and will usually produce a single offspring although females giving birth to twins has been reported. Their gestation period is between 226 and 232 days long. Males have been observed engaging in infanticide. All victims of observed infanticide were from the same social group as their attackers and all were young males.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...