| Northern muriqui[1] | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Atelidae |
| Genus: | Brachyteles |
| Species: | B. hypoxanthus |
| Binomial name | |
| Brachyteles hypoxanthus (Kuhl, 1820) |
|
| Northern Muriqui range | |
The northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) is an endangered muriqui (woolly spider monkey) species endemic to Brazil. It is unusual among primates in that shows egaliterian social relationship.[3] It is found in the Atlantic Forest region of the Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais and Bahia. Muriquis are the largest species of New World monkeys. The northern muriqui can grow up to 4' 2" tall. It feeds mainly on leaves and twigs, but will also eat fruit. It often hangs upside-down by its prehensile tail while eating.
Contents |
B. hypoxanthus is one of the world's most critically endangered primates. It is threatened by hunting and (in common with most other primates of the region) destruction and fragmentation of its Atlantic Forest habitat.[2] The wild population was estimated at 855 in 2005. This represents the sum of a number of isolated populations, the largest with only 230 members, none of which were considered likely to be viable over the long term at those levels.[2]
The northern muriqui has been argued to be important to understanding human evolution since it is one of the few primates that has tolerant, nonhierarchial relationships among and between males and females, a feature shared with hunter-gatherer humans, but which contrasts with the ranked relationships of most other primates.[3] There is also the rarity of group aggression.[3] Research finds the success of males fathering offspring links to the maternal investment they gain from their mothers and coresident female kin. This provides supports to the grandmother hypothesis.[3]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||