Common Squirrel Monkey

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iCommon Squirrel Monkey

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Family:	Cebidae
Genus:	Saimiri
Species:	S. sciureus

Binomial name

Saimiri sciureus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Common Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus) is a small New World primate from the Cebidae family, and native to ten different countries of South America: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

It lives in very large groups, up to 300 individuals, on moist tropical forests, and usually forages in the medium and lower levels of the forest and sleeps close to the canopy. The females are the dominant members of the group.

Common Squirrel Monkey at the Henry Doorly Zoo.

It is a very agile monkey, with a high metabolic rate, and although an omnivorous animal, it feeds primarily on insects and other invertebrates. It also feeds on fruits, seeds and other plant parts.

It is common to see these squirrel monkeys in mixed groups, moving along with other primate species and birds.

There are four subspecies of Saimiri sciureus:

Saimiri sciureus sciureus
Saimiri sciureus albigena
Humboldt's Squirrel Monkey, Saimiri sciureus cassiquiarensis
Ecuadorian Squirrel Monkey, Saimiri sciureus macrodon

[edit] References

Rylands et al (2003). Saimiri sciureus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 139. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.