Silver wool monkey
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Silver woolly monkey ( Lagothrix poeppigii ) |
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| Lagothrix poeppigii | ||||||||||||
| Schinz , 1844 |
The silver woolly monkey ( Lagothrix poeppigii ) is a species of primate living in South America from the family of the spotted monkeys (Atelidae). It is one of the four species into which the woolly monkeys are divided in more recent classifications. It got its species name after the zoologist and America researcher Eduard Friedrich Poeppig .
features
The head body length of the males is 46 to 65 centimeters, that of the females 46 to 58 cm. The tail is longer than the body and is 62 to 80 cm long in the males and 53 to 72 cm long in the females. While males reach an average of 7 kilograms (dominant up to 10 kg), females are usually lighter with 5 to 7 kilograms. The males' canines are longer and their mastication muscles are stronger. The female clitoris is as long or longer than the male penis, but the testicles are usually clearly visible. The tail is designed as a grasping tail. The fur is very dense as with all woolly monkey, its color varies from red-brown, all shades of brown to almost black and often has a silver-gray sheen. A rare morph is light gray-yellow with a dark head and dark limbs. The syllable shimmer is most clearly pronounced in the population on the western edge of the distribution area. The head, hands, feet and belly are black, the chest is reddish, especially in males.
distribution and habitat
These primates live in the far west of Brazil , eastern Ecuador, and northern Peru . Their habitat is enclosed in the west by the Cordillera Oriental , in the north by Rio Napo and Amazonas and in the south by the Rio Juruá . They occur in tropical rainforests up to 1600 meters above sea level and need undisturbed primary forests .
Way of life
Silver woolly monkeys are diurnal tree dwellers that mostly stay in the upper canopy. They are skilful, but rather slow climbers who move four-legged as well as swinging and swinging. The prehensile tail is also used for locomotion. They live in groups of 10 to 45 animals made up of several males and females. When foraging for food, they sometimes split up into smaller subgroups. The groups' home ranges cover more than a hundred hectares. The territories of different groups overlap, animals from other groups are usually not hostile to them.
The diet of these animals consists mainly of fruits, but they also eat leaves, seeds and other plant parts, sometimes also insects and small vertebrates.
After a gestation period of around 225 days, the female usually gives birth to a single young. This is weaned after a year and sexually mature at four to six years.
Danger
The main threats to the silver woolly monkey are on the one hand hunting for their meat and on the other hand the destruction of their habitat. They occur almost exclusively in untouched forests and leave them after disturbances by humans. The species is listed as endangered ( vulnerable ) by the IUCN . In Ecuador he is a. a. protected in the national parks of Sangay and Yasuní .
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 .
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c Anthony B. Rylands, Russell A. Mittermeier , Fanny M. Cornejo, Thomas R. Defler, Kenneth E. Glander, William R. Konstant, Liliam P. Pinto & Maurício Talebi: Family Atelidae (Howlers, Spider and Woolly Monkeys and Muriquis) , pages 546-547 in Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson : Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Primates: 3rd ISBN 978-8496553897
- ^ IUCN entry
