Woolly monkeys
| Woolly monkeys | ||||||||||||
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Brown woolly monkey ( Lagothrix lagotricha ) |
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| Lagothrix | ||||||||||||
| É. Geoffroy , 1812 |
The woolly monkeys ( Lagothrix ) are a genus from the primate family of the spotted monkeys (Atelidae) within the New World monkeys . They are relatively large, with thick, woolly fur covered animals that live in northwestern South America . In the past, all animals were grouped into one species; today, four species are differentiated.
description
Woolly monkeys are relatively large primates with woolly fur. Their coloration is extremely dark, mostly dark brown or blackish gray, but varies according to species and distribution area. The head, hands and feet are often darker than the rest of the body. The head is round, the dark face is hairless, the ears are relatively small. The limbs are long and strong, the tail, which is longer than the body, is developed as a prehensile tail. The females have an elongated, penis-like clitoris . Woolly monkeys reach a head body length of around 50 to 70 centimeters, the tail is 60 to 70 centimeters long. The weight is 5 to 10 (usually between seven and nine) kilograms.
distribution and habitat
Woolly monkeys inhabit northwestern South America . Their distribution area extends from Colombia over the western Amazon basin to Bolivia and eastern Peru . Their habitat are forests, mostly they inhabit low-lying primary forests . In the mountains they occur up to an altitude of 3000 meters.
Way of life
Woolly monkeys are diurnal tree dwellers that mostly live in the upper crown area. On the ground, wherever they sometimes come, they walk with their hind legs and stretch their tails backwards for balance. In the trees they move skillfully, but more deliberately than the other spider-tailed monkeys. They mostly use all four limbs to move and rarely jump. However, they can often be seen hanging in the branches, using the prehensile tail as well as the four limbs.
Woolly monkeys live together in groups of 10 to 70 (mostly 20 to 33) animals. The groups are often made up of several family associations. Sometimes they split up in search of food, but overall cohesion in the group is relatively high. They inhabit vast ranges of 400 to 1,100 hectares that can overlap with those of other groups. In general, however, they do not react very aggressively to animals from outside the group. Within the group, the animals often groom each other's fur, with adult males at the top of this hierarchy. One can also observe the sharing of food found. The animals communicate using a range of facial expressions and screams. These screams can be very loud and are mainly used to warn of enemies.
food
The food of the woolly monkey consists mainly of ripe fruits (around 70%). If these are not available, they also consume leaves, seeds and other parts of plants, sometimes insects and even small vertebrates.
Reproduction
Every second year the female gives birth to a young after around 225 days of gestation. These cling initially to the mother's stomach, and later to her back as well. When they are around five months old, they begin to explore their surroundings on their own, but are still suckled until they are around a year old. The animals become sexually mature when they are four to six years old. The highest known age of a woolly monkey in captivity was 24 years.
Interactions with other animals
Woolly monkeys have almost no natural enemies due to their size and because they usually stay in high tree tops. Only large birds of prey are believed to capture individual specimens. In several cases, woolly monkeys were associated with other South American primates such as monkeys , howler monkeys , pygmy marmoset , tamarins , squirrel monkeys , owl monkeys , Sakis or capuchins sighted. Sometimes the double-tooth harp ( Harpagus bidentatus ) follows a woolly monkey and catches insects that have been scared off by the primate.
Danger
The meat of woolly monkeys is considered a delicacy in some places, which is why they are hunted. Occasionally young animals are caught in order to make them pets , for this purpose the mother is usually killed. Due to the fact that they reproduce slowly and require a relatively undisturbed habitat, they have become rare in some regions. The IUCN lists all four species as endangered or threatened, the most precarious is the situation of the Colombian woolly monkey, which is considered "critically endangered".
Systematics
The woolly monkeys are counted in the family of the spotted monkeys , which are characterized among other things by a prehensile tail. Their closest relatives are likely to be the spider monkeys from southeastern Brazil.
Today four types are distinguished:
- The gray woolly monkey ( Lagothrix cana ) is characterized by a gray fur.
- The brown woolly monkey ( Lagothrix lagotricha ) has a rather brownish fur.
- The Colombian woolly monkey ( Lagothrix lugens ) has a dark fur and only inhabits a small area in Colombia.
- The silver woolly monkey ( Lagothrix poeppigii ) has a reddish brown or gray fur, sometimes with a silver-gray sheen.
The yellow-tailed woolly monkey is listed in its own genus, Oreonax , but is closely related to the woolly monkey of the genus Lagothrix , is basal to this calde and separated from Lagothrix about 2.1 million years ago.
literature
- Thomas Geissmann : Comparative Primatology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin a. a. 2003, ISBN 3-540-43645-6 .
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- Thomas R. Defler & Pablo R. Stevenson (Eds.): The Woolly Monkey: Behavior, Ecology, Systematics, and Captive Research. Springer, New York 2014. ISBN 978-1-4939-0696-3 (print); ISBN 978-1-4939-0697-0 (eBook)
Individual evidence
- ↑ KJ. Gron: Woolly monkey ( Engl. ) In: Primate Info Net . National Primate Center, University of Wisconsin. October 30, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2011.
- ↑ Anthony Di Fiore, Paulo B. Chaves, Fanny M. Cornejo, Christopher A. Schmitt, Sam Shanee, Liliana Cortes-Ortiz, Valéria Fagundes, Christian Roos, Víctor Pacheco: The rise and fall of a genus: Complete mtDNA genomes shed light on the phylogenetic position of yellow-tailed woolly monkeys, Lagothrix flavicauda, and on the evolutionary history of the family Atelidae (Primates: Platyrrhini). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, April 19, 2014, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2014.03.028
