Black-headed spider monkey

Black-handed spider monkey[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Atelidae
Genus: Ateles
Species: A. fusciceps
Binomial name
Ateles fusciceps
Gray, 1866
Distribution of A. geoffroyi (blue) and A. fusciceps (red)

The Black-handed spider monkey, Ateles fusciceps, is a species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central and South America. It is found in Colombia, Nicaragua and Panama.[2] Although primatologists such as Colin Groves (1989) follow Kellogg and Goldman (1944) in treating A. fusciceps as a separate species, other authors, including Froelich (1991), Collins and Dubach (2001) and Nieves (2005) treat it as a subspecies of Geoffroy's spider monkey.[1][3]

There are two subspecies:[1]

A. f. fusciceps lives in tropical and subtropical humid forests that are between 100 and 1,700 metres (330 and 5,600 ft) above sea level. It lives in population densities of 1.2 monkeys per square kilometer. A. f. rufiventris lives in dry forests, humid forests and cloud forests, and can live up to 2,000 to 2,500 metres (6,600 to 8,200 ft) above sea level.[2]

A. f. fusciceps has a black or brown body and a brown head. A. f. rufiventris is entirely black with some white on its chin. The Brown-headed Spider Monkey is one of the larger New World monkeys. The head and body length, excluding tail, typically ranges between 393 and 538 millimetres (15.5 and 21.2 in). The prehensile tail is between 710 and 855 millimetres (28 and 33.7 in). On average, males weigh 8.89 kilograms (19.6 lb) and females weigh 8.8 kilograms (19 lb). The brain weighs 114.7 grams (4.05 oz).[4]

The Black-headed spider monkey is arboreal and diurnal. It moves by climbing and brachiation. When mating, females may consort with a male for up to three days, or else mate with several males. Mating occurs with the male and female face to face, and can last for 5 to 10 minutes. The gestation period is between 226 and 232 days. The infant rides on its mother's back for 16 weeks, and is weaned at 20 months. Females attain sexual maturity at 51 months; males at 56 months. Females give birth every three years.[4]

The Black-headed spider monkey is considered to be critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to an estimated population loss of more than 80% over 45 years, from hunting and human encroachment on its range of habitation.[2]

Captive Black-headed spider monkeys have been known to live more than 24 years.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 150. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100396. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f Cuarón, A.D., Shedden, A., Rodríguez-Luna, E., de Grammont, P.C. & Link, A. (2008). "Ateles fusciceps". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/135446. Retrieved 24 March 2011. 
  3. ^ Collins, A. (2008). "The taxonomic status of spider monkeys in the twenty-first century". In Campbell, C.. Spider Monkeys. Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-521-86750-4. 
  4. ^ a b Rowe, N. (1996). The Pictorial Guide to the Living Primates. Pogonias Press. p. 113. ISBN 0-9648825-0-7. 
  5. ^ Chapman, C. & Chapman, L. (1990). "Reproductive Biology of Captive and Free-ranging Spider Monkeys". Zoo Biology (9): 6. http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/programs/anthro/chapman_files/CWeb/Pdf/24_SpiderRepro.pdf. 
Panamanian monkey species

Black-headed Spider Monkey (Ateles fusciceps) · Central American Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri oerstedii) · Coiba Island Howler (Alouatta coibensis) · Geoffroy's Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) · Geoffroy's Tamarin (Saguinus geoffroyi) · Mantled Howler (Alouatta palliata) · Panamanian Night Monkey (Aotus zonalis) · White-headed Capuchin (Cebus capucinus) ·