Spider Monkey Facts

Spider monkeys are found in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, as well as in regions as far north as Mexico. They dwell in the evergreen rainforests, mangrove forests and even lowland to mountain forests. These monkeys prefer wet forests rather than dry regions and are mostly found living in the upper canopy, almost never coming near the ground. The spider monkey is considered to be a primitive new world monkey, which means they originated in the North or South America. They have less complex brain, unopposable thumbs, wide apart nostrils, feet with big toes and small heads. They have slender bodies (weigh about 20 pounds), hands and limbs and depend highly on their keen binocular vision. Before heading to the interesting spider monkey facts, let us check out the scientific classification of spider monkeys.

• Scientific name: Ateles geoffroyi
• Order: Primates
• Family: Cebidae (New World monkeys)
• Subfamily: Atelidae
• Genus: Ateles
• Species: Geoffroyi (Black handed spider monkey)
• Subspecies: geoffroyi (Geoffroy's spider monkey)

Interesting Spider Monkey Facts

Possesses a Tail-Fifth Hand
Spider monkeys have a prehensile tail that enables them to move from branch to branch. This tail is muscular, tactile and sometimes longer than the body. The monkey uses this tail as a fifth hand to hang from the branches, which frees the hands for food collection. Since these monkeys spend such a lot of time swinging from limb to limb, high above the jungle floor in the trees, they are called 'trapeze artists' of the animal world.

How it Got its Name
One of the interesting facts on spider monkeys are how they got their name. Spider monkeys are observed to be hanging onto separate branches of the trees with all four limbs and the tail as well. This gives the monkey a spider like appearance, which is why these monkeys are called spider monkeys.

Appearance
Found mostly in black, they may even be found in colors like brown, red, golden, buff, etc. Some of the monkeys exhibit flesh colored rings around their eyes and white chin whiskers. Their fur is coarse and stringy, however, they lack underfur.

Fore and Hind Limbs
Their fore and hind limbs are quite long. The fore limbs feature hooked-shaped hands due to the absence of thumbs. But, even though they lack thumbs, they have a powerful grip on the branches they hang onto due to the hooked hands.

Forms Groups called Troops
Spider monkeys are social animals, they gather in groups of 2-3 dozen animals called troops, which at night split up to form smaller sleeping parties (of half a dozen). However, these groups often change with circumstances. Depending on the availability of ripe fruit, they split up. The less the fruit available, smaller the groups are (to look for more food). Spider monkeys have been observed to form living bridges to lessen the gap between branches, when it is too wide to leap across.

Spider Monkey's Diet
The diet of spider monkeys comprises 90% fruit and some nuts, seeds, insects like spiders and birds eggs found on tree-tops. Spider monkeys forage for their food in small groups early in the morning. These monkeys are believed to play a crucial role in spreading seeds of various plants throughout the rainforests of South America.

Female-Male Ratio in a Troop
Male and female spider monkeys look more or less the same, however, the females are slightly larger than the males. In troops females usually outnumber the males, it's usually a ratio of 2 females to one male and they are the dominant members of the group.

Reproduction and Motherhood
Females give birth every 2-3 years. The female carries the baby in her womb for 7.5 months and will carry the baby around for almost 10 months after its birth. She carries the baby first on her front and then on her back,when the baby becomes larger. The baby clings to the mother's fur and wraps his or her tail around the base of the mother's tail.

Communication
Spider monkeys can be quite noisy as they send forth a variety of loud calls that are audible for about 1000m on the ground and 2000m above the canopy. The loud screeches are used to help the troops space out in the forest and avoid unnecessary confrontations. These calls are also used to alert members of the troop to a central feeding site. Juveniles develop their long call by practice.

Spider Monkey Types
There are several types of spider monkeys. Some of these species are the Columbian black spider monkey, woolly spider monkey, Peruvian spider monkey, white-cheeked spider monkey, Mexican spider monkey, hooded spider monkey, brown-headed spider monkey, ornate spider monkey, black-headed spider monkey, red-faced spider monkey, white-bellied spider monkey, white-whiskered spider monkey, etc.

More Spider Monkey Facts

It is not possible to head into black spider monkey facts, woolly spider monkey facts, or any other spider monkey facts in detail. However, one interesting point about woolly spider monkeys is that they are the largest primate in the United States. One fact about black spider monkeys is that these animals sheathed in black glossy fur, sometimes get eaten up by harpy eagles or small cats like jaguarundis and ocelots.

The average lifespan of a spider monkey is 27 years in the wild and 30 years in captivity. However, destruction of rainforests has spearheaded the disappearance of several spider monkeys. Spider monkeys are fast becoming an endangered species. Sadly, man is spider monkeys' greatest enemy. Besides destroying their habitat, man is also responsible for dragging these glorious animals into the lucrative pet trade. People even hunt them down to consume their meat. The low maturation and reproduction rates of these mammals has made them even more vulnerable to extinction.

These were some spider monkey facts. Hope this article has thrown enough light on how wonderful these creatures are and how we as humans cannot snatch the right to live from these amazing spider monkeys.