Animal Diversity Web

Di­ver­sity

Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys are the largest of the New World Mon­keys. There are 24 species in the fam­ily Atel­idae, in­clud­ing 10 species of howler mon­keys (Alouatta), 7 spi­der mon­keys (Ate­les), 2 muriquis (Brachyte­les), 4 woolly mon­keys (Lagothrix), and 1 yel­low-tailed woolly mon­key (Ore­onax). All atelids have pre­hen­sile tails that are sen­si­tive and used for grasp­ing ob­jects. (Groves, 2001; Nowak, 1991; Wil­son and Reeder, 2005)

Ge­o­graphic Range

Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys are found in Cen­tral and South Amer­ica. The howler mon­keys (Alouatta) are the most wide­spread New World mon­key genus, oc­cur­ring from south­ern Mex­ico to north­ern Ar­gentina. Spi­der mon­keys (Ate­les) are also fairly wide­spread, oc­cur­ring from south­ern Mex­ico through the Ama­zon basin. Woolly mon­keys (Lagothrix) are found only in the Ama­zon. Muriquis (Brachyte­les) are re­stricted to the south­east­ern At­lantic rain­for­est of Brazil and yel­low-tailed woolly mon­keys (Ore­onax) are found only in the cloud forests of a por­tion of the Pe­ru­vian Andes. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Biogeographic Regions
• neotropical
  • native

Habi­tat

All pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys are highly ar­bo­real and found ex­clu­sively in forests. Some species, such as woolly mon­keys (Lagothrix) and some spi­der mon­keys (Ate­les) are found only in pri­mary forests but most species also occur in sec­ondary or dis­turbed forests. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Habitat Regions
• tropical
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest
• rainforest

• Other Habitat Features
• riparian

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys are the largest of the New World mon­keys. Species range from 382 to 686 mm head and body length in the Atelinae and from 559 to 915 mm head and body length in the howler mon­keys (Alouat­ti­nae). Atelinae tail length ranges from 508 to 890 mm and weight from 5.5 to 15 kg. Alouat­ti­nae tail length ranges from 585 to 915 mm and weight from 4 to 12 kg. Males are sub­stan­tially larger than fe­males in howler mon­keys (Alouatta) and woolly mon­keys (Lagothrix), sexes are sim­i­lar in size in other gen­era. Den­tal for­mula is I 2/2; C1/1; P 3/3; M 3/3. (Nowak, 1991)

Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys are from pale buff or gray (Brachyte­les) to dark black (Ate­les) in pelage color. Males and fe­males dif­fer in color in some species of howler mon­keys. Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys tend to have long limbs, fin­gers, and tails. This is es­pe­cially pro­nounced in spi­der mon­keys and muriquis, where it is as­so­ci­ated with brachi­a­tion and sus­pen­sory lo­co­mo­tion. Woolly mon­keys and howler mon­keys have more com­pact bod­ies and are not as fast and agile as are spi­der mon­keys and muriquis. Fe­male Ate­les and Brachyte­les have pen­du­lous cli­torises. Howler mon­keys have a greatly en­larged hyoid bone which is used to help pro­ject their very loud roar­ing vo­cal­iza­tions. They also have an en­larged hindgut. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike
• male larger
• sexes colored or patterned differently

Re­pro­duc­tion

Fe­male pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys mate with mul­ti­ple male part­ners. De­pend­ing on the com­po­si­tion of so­cial groups, dom­i­nant males may ef­fec­tively mo­nop­o­lize mat­ings with group fe­males. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Mating System
• polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Births gen­er­ally occur in dry sea­sons, when pre­ferred foods are scarce. Con­cep­tion and wean­ing usu­ally oc­curs dur­ing wet sea­sons, when food is plen­ti­ful. Ges­ta­tion length is from 6 to 7.2 months and usu­ally 1 young is born, twins are rare. In­ter­birth in­ter­vals are from 2 years in Alouatta to 3 years in the ate­line gen­era. Fe­males be­come sex­u­ally ma­ture at from 4 (Alouatta) to 9 years old (Brachyte­les). (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• viviparous

There is no ev­i­dence of male parental care in pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys. Fe­males care for and nurse their young. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Parental Investment
• altricial
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

A cap­tive woolly mon­key lived for nearly 25 years, a cap­tive spi­der mon­key lived for 48 years, and a cap­tive howler mon­key for more than 23 years. Wild howler mon­keys live for over 20 years, with an av­er­age of 16 years. (Nowak, 1991)

Be­hav­ior

Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys are di­ur­nal. They spend a large part of every day rest­ing, up to 70% of their time. They are ex­clu­sively ar­bo­real, al­though some species have oc­ca­sion­ally been ob­served de­scend­ing to the ground to drink, for­age, and play. Spi­der mon­keys and muriquis are su­perb brachi­a­tors and ex­cep­tion­ally agile when lo­co­mot­ing in for­est canopies. (Strier, 2004)

Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys live in multi-male, multi-fe­male so­cial groups of 3 to 100 in­di­vid­u­als. Woolly mon­keys often occur in groups of 30 to 40 and spi­der mon­keys in groups of 2 to 30. Howler mon­keys often occur in smaller groups of 3 to 19. In ate­line gen­era males are philopatric and fe­males dis­perse from their natal groups. Both males and fe­males dis­perse from their natal groups in howler mon­keys. Groups don't de­fend ter­ri­to­ries, al­though in­ter-group con­flict can some­times be in­tense in howler groups. Home range sizes range from 10 hectares in Alouatta to over 900 hectares in Lagothrix and Brachyte­les. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Key Behaviors
• arboreal
• scansorial
• diurnal
• motile
• sedentary
• social

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

All species use vo­cal­iza­tions to com­mu­ni­cate, but howler mon­keys are best known for their pow­er­ful, long-dis­tance roars. Male howler mon­keys roar most often at the bound­aries of their home ranges and can be heard by hu­mans up to 2 kilo­me­ters away. Some species are also known to apply urine to their hands and feet, de­posit­ing scent as they move. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• choruses

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys are pri­mar­ily fru­giv­o­rous, al­though they also con­sume vari­able quan­ti­ties of leaves, flow­ers, nec­tar, plant gums, new shoots, and in­sects. Howler mon­keys (Alouatta) are the most fo­liv­o­rous of the pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys. Diet varies ge­o­graph­i­cally and sea­son­ally, though, with more fruits con­sumed when avail­able and leaves be­com­ing a more im­por­tant part of the diet in parts of the year where fruits are less avail­able and in dis­turbed forests. Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys use their tails ex­ten­sively. In­di­vid­u­als often feed while sus­pended, hang­ing from their tail. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Primary Diet
• herbivore
  • folivore
  • frugivore

Pre­da­tion

There are few re­ported preda­tors of pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys. They are at risk of pre­da­tion from ar­bo­real preda­tors, such as large snakes and fe­lids. Large, di­ur­nal rap­tors may also take these mon­keys from for­est canopies.

Ecosys­tem Roles

Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys aid in the dis­per­sal of for­est trees through their fru­givory. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys are im­por­tant in many Cen­tral and South Amer­i­can cul­tures. They are fea­tured in myths and leg­ends and some body parts are thought to have spe­cial pow­ers. Their large body size makes many pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys a de­sir­able source of meat and the docil­ity of some species makes them pop­u­lar as pets. Pre­hen­sile tailed mon­keys are fas­ci­nat­ing and ubiq­ui­tous com­po­nents of neotrop­i­cal forests, mak­ing them im­por­tant for eco­tourism. (Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• Positive Impacts
• pet trade
• food
• body parts are source of valuable material
• ecotourism

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Al­though large and fru­giv­o­rous, none of the atelids are con­sid­ered agri­cul­tural pests. (Strier, 2004)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Both Brachyte­les species, Ore­onax flav­i­cauda, 3 species of Alouatta, and 2 sub­species of Ate­les ge­of­froyi are on Ap­pen­dix I of CITES. Alouatta pigra, Ate­les mar­gina­tus, and Brachyte­les arach­noides are con­sid­ered en­dan­gered by the IUCN. Ate­les hy­bridus, Brachyte­les hy­pox­an­thus, and Ore­onax flav­i­cauda are con­sid­ered crit­i­cally en­dan­gered. The muriquis (Brachyte­les) are the only New World mon­keys re­stricted to the Brazil­ian At­lantic rain­for­est, mak­ing them es­pe­cially vul­ner­a­ble. Brachyte­les hy­pox­an­thus pop­u­la­tions are es­ti­mated at around 500 in­di­vid­u­als. Ore­onax flav­i­cauda pop­u­la­tions, re­stricted to a small area of the Pe­ru­vian Andes, are es­ti­mated at 200 in­di­vid­u­als. (In­ter­na­tional Union for the Con­ser­va­tion of Na­ture, 2007; Nowak, 1991; Strier, 2004)

• IUCN Red List [Link]

  Not Evaluated

Other Com­ments

Atelids are known from Pleis­tocene fos­sil de­posits. (Strier, 2004)

Con­trib­u­tors

Tanya Dewey (au­thor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Ref­er­ences

Canavez, F., M. Mor­eira, J. Ladasky, A. Pissi­natti, P. Parham, H. Seuanez. 1999. Mol­e­c­u­lar Phy­logeny of New World Pri­mates (Platyrrhini) Based on ??2-Mi­croglob­u­lin DNA Se­quences. Mol­e­c­u­lar Phy­lo­ge­net­ics and Evo­lu­tion, 12: 74-82.

Groves, C. 2001. Pri­mate Tax­on­omy. Wash­ing­ton, D.C.: The Smith­son­ian In­sti­tu­tion Press.

Her­shkovitz, P. 1977. Liv­ing New World Mon­keys (Platyrrhini). Chicago: The Uni­ver­sity of Chicago Press.

In­ter­na­tional Union for the Con­ser­va­tion of Na­ture, 2007. "2007 IUCN Red List of Threat­ened Species" (On-line). Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 16, 2007 at http://​www.​iucnredlist.​org/​.

Nowak, R. 1991. Walker's Mam­mals of the World, Vol­ume 1. Bal­ti­more: The Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press.

Ray, D., J. Xing, D. Hedges, M. Hall, M. Laborde, B. An­ders, B. White, N. Stoilova, J. Fowlkes, K. Landry, L. Chem­nick, O. Ryder, M. Batzer. 2005. Alu in­ser­tion loci and platyrrhine pri­mate phy­logeny. Mol­e­c­u­lar Phy­lo­ge­net­ics and Evo­lu­tion, 35: 117-126.

Steiper, M., M. Ru­volo. 2003. New World mon­key phy­logeny based on X-linked G6PD DNA se­quences. Mol­e­c­u­lar Phy­lo­ge­net­ics and Evo­lu­tion, 27: 121-130.

Strier, K. 2004. "Howler Mon­keys and Spi­der Mon­keys (Atel­idae)". Pp. 155-169 in M Hutchins, D Thoney, M Mc­Dade, eds. Grz­imek's An­i­mal Life En­cy­clo­pe­dia, Vol. 14. De­troit, Michi­gan: Thom­son Gale.

Wil­son, D., D. Reeder. 2005. Mam­mal Species of the World. Bal­ti­more: The Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press. Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 16, 2007 at http://​nmnhgoph.​si.​edu/​msw/​.