Brown howler monkey
| Brown howler monkey | ||||||||||||
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Brown Howler Monkey ( Alouatta guariba ) |
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| Alouatta guariba | ||||||||||||
| ( Humboldt , 1812) |
The brown howler monkey ( Alouatta guariba , Syn .: A. fusca ) is a species of primate from the genus of the howler monkey within the spotted monkey (Atelidae). He lives in eastern South America .
features
Brown howler monkeys, like all howler monkeys, are relatively large, stocky primates. They reach a head body length of 45 to 59 centimeters, the tail is 48 to 67 centimeters slightly longer than the body. It is developed as a prehensile tail and has a hairless area of skin on the underside of the rear end. At 5 to 7 kilograms, the males are heavier than the females, who reach 4 to 5 kilograms. The fur of these animals is usually brown in color, but depending on the region and habitat it can be in different shades of yellow, brown or red.
distribution and habitat
Brown howler monkeys occur mainly in eastern Brazil , their range extends from the Rio São Francisco to Rio Grande do Sul . Their habitat are the Atlantic coastal forests, some of which are made up of araucarias , but also other forest forms.
Lifestyle and diet
Brown howler monkeys are diurnal and usually stay in the trees. Their locomotion is leisurely, they rarely jump, but they can only look for food by hanging on their prehensile tail, for example. To compensate for the low nutritional value of their diet, which consists primarily of leaves, they often take breaks. In addition to leaves, they also consume fruits and flowers.
These animals live in groups of 4 to 11 animals, which are composed of one (sometimes two) male, several females and the common offspring. Due to their easy-to-obtain leaf food, the territories are relatively small and often overlap. Like the other howler monkeys, they also let out the loud roar typical of the genus, but in contrast to the other species it sounds less in the early morning and is not used to make other groups aware of one's own presence, but rather should primarily serve communication within the group.
Danger
Brown howler monkeys inhabit the greatly reduced and fragmented Atlantic coastal forests. Because of their easy-to-obtain leaf food and their small area requirements, they cope better with these restrictions than many other primates living in the area. Worrying, however, is the status of the northern subspecies A. g. guariba . From this subspecies there are fewer than 250 adult animals in the Brazilian states of Bahia and Minas Gerais , it is, according to IUCN threatened with extinction ( critically endangered ). The southern subspecies A. g. clamitans , on the other hand, is not considered threatened, and the species as a whole is not endangered according to the IUCN.
The species is no longer kept in Europe; the only owner was London in the 1870s.
literature
- Thomas Geissmann : Comparative Primatology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin et al. 2003, ISBN 3-540-43645-6 .
- Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
