The brown spider monkey or variegated spider monkey (''Ateles hybridus'') is a
critically endangered species of
spider monkey
Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The g ...
, a type of
New World monkey
New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboidea ( ...
, from forests in northern
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and northwestern
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
.
Like all spider monkeys, it has long, slender limbs and a long
prehensile tail
A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees. If the ta ...
. The brown spider monkey has a whitish belly and patch on the forehead, and – highly unusual among spider monkeys – its eyes can be pale blue.
The brown spider monkey is one of the most threatened primates in the Neotropics and has been listed six times on
The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates
The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates is a list of highly endangered primate species selected and published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Primate Specialist Group (PSG), the In ...
.
Taxonomy
Some scientists recognise two
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
, ''Ateles hybridus hybridus'', found in both Colombia and Venezuela and ''Ateles hybridus brunneus'', found between
Cauca and
Magdalena River
The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...
in Colombia.
[ Molecular studies have not supported the subspecies designations and treat the species as a single taxon.]
Physical description
The brown spider monkey has long and thin limbs with longer forelimbs than hind limbs. It has a distinctive long flexible, thin and prehensile tail which at times acts like a fifth limb. The tail has a highly flexible, hairless tip with skin grooves which improves grip. Its fingers are curved and it has small thumbs. These features make it possible for it to climb trees at high elevations, and hang and swing from one tree to another without often having to return to the ground. Adult males weigh between and adult females weigh between . Its average adult body length is . Its coloration ranges from light brown to dark on upper parts including the head. Its most distinctive characteristic is a whitish triangular forehead patch, although not all individuals have one. Some have pale blue eyes but most are brown.
Distribution
The brown spider monkey is found in northern Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and northwestern Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
.[ In Colombia, it is found from the right bank of the ]Magdalena River
The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...
in the Magdalena and Cesar Department
Caesar Department ( es, Departamento del Cesar, links=no) or simply Caesar () is a department of Colombia located in the north of the country in the Caribbean region, bordering to the north with the Department of La Guajira, to the west with th ...
s, the south western portions of Guajira in the northernmost parts of the Serrania de Perija
Serrania is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. As of 2020, its population was estimated to be 7,668.
The city has an area of 211,48 square kilometers. The population density is about 37/km2. The elevation is 895 meters.
The ...
, and in the middle Magdalena River Valley
The Magdalena River Valley ( es, Valle del Río Magdalena) is a valley in Colombia located within the Colombian Andes. The valley is specifically situated between the Central and Eastern Ranges and crossed by the river of the same name, the Magdale ...
at least to the Caldas and Cundinamarca Departments. In Venezuela, the brown spider monkey is normally found at altitudes between .
Ecology and behaviour
Even though the brown spider monkey spends most of its time high in trees, it occasionally descends to eat soil and drink water. Since it forages in high canopies, it prefers undisturbed primary forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
s. The brown spider monkey travels in small groups, and instead of walking or running on all fours, it travels mostly by swinging and climbing between trees.
The brown spider monkey mainly forages in the forest canopy and relies mostly on its senses of sight, smell, taste, and touch to find food. It is mainly herbivorous
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...
and frugivorous
A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...
. A main component of the brown spider monkey's diet is ripe fruit. Over three quarters of its diet is lipid
Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include ...
-rich fruits. However, in drier seasons where fruit is less abundant, it feeds on leaves, seeds, flowers, bark, honey, decaying wood, and occasionally insects such as termite
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...
s and caterpillars. The brown spider monkey feeds on different species of figs
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
year around. Scientists have observed it eating soil and clay, and hypothesized that the reasons for this behavior could be to obtain minerals from the soil, for example phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...
, or in order to maintain a pH-balance in its digestive system. The brown spider monkey finds water to drink on the forest floor at "salado sites." Competition for food occurs between spider monkeys and other frugivorous primates.
Average lifespan of a spider monkey is 27 years, however, in captivity it can reach 40 years old.
Natural predators include jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
s (''Panthera onca''), mountain lion
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...
s (''Puma concolor''), harpy eagle
The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...
s (''Harpia harpyja''), and crested eagle
The crested eagle (''Morphnus guianensis'') is a large Neotropical eagle. It is the only member of the genus ''Morphnus''. The crested eagle can grow up to long, with a wingspan up to , and weigh up to . The plumage varies between a light br ...
s (''Morphnus guianensis''). The brown spider monkey is known to shake branches in order to ward off potential predators.
Conservation
The brown spider monkey is one of the most threatened primates in the Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...
. The population is estimated to have decreased by at least 80% and some populations have already been extirpated
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...
. Few remaining populations are of adequate size to be viable long-term. Almost 60 brown spider monkeys were recorded at various zoo (mostly European) that participated in the International Species Information System
Species360 (formerly International Species Information System or ISIS) founded in 1974, is an international non-profit organization that maintains an online database of wild animals under human care. , the organization serves more than 1,000 zoos ...
in 2010, but breeding is slow. Habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
is ongoing within its wild range, and an estimated 98% of its habitat already is gone. Habitat loss is driven both by logging, and land clearance for agriculture and cattle ranches. It is also threatened by hunting (in some regions it is the favorite game
A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...
) and the wild animals trade. One study did not show a significant difference between population densities inside versus outside forest areas disturbed by loggers. It has been hypothesized that this anomaly is due to the sample being taken from El Paujil reserve, which is a protected area and may serve as refuge from other human activities, namely poaching.
A small population of fewer than 30 individuals has been discovered in a protected area of Colombia, the . This is the southernmost population of the brown spider monkey. Brown spider monkeys are also known from other reserves in both Colombia and Venezuela.
References
External links
*ARKive
images and movies of the variegated spider monkey ''(Ateles hybridus)''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q790630
brown spider monkey
The brown spider monkey or variegated spider monkey (''Ateles hybridus'') is a critically endangered species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, from forests in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.
Like all spider monkeys, it ...
Primates of South America
Mammals of Colombia
Mammals of Venezuela
brown spider monkey
The brown spider monkey or variegated spider monkey (''Ateles hybridus'') is a critically endangered species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, from forests in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.
Like all spider monkeys, it ...
Taxa named by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
Articles containing video clips