Brown spider monkey
| Brown spider monkey | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Atelidae |
| Genus: | Ateles |
| Species: | A. hybridus |
| Binomial name | |
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Ateles hybridus I. Geoffroy, 1829 |
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| Brown spider monkey range in green | |
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.
Its taxonomic history has been confusing, and in the past it has been treated as a subspecies of either the Geoffroy's spider monkey or the white-fronted spider monkey. Like all spider monkeys, it has very long, spindly limbs and a lengthy prehensile tail which can almost be called a fifth limb. The brown spider monkey has a whitish belly and patch on the forehead, and – highly unusual among spider monkeys – the eyes are sometimes pale blue.
Brown spider monkeys have long and thin limbs with their forelimbs being longer than their hind limbs. They also have a distinctive 75 cm (30 in) 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. Their hands look slightly curvy and they have small thumbs. All these features make it possible for them to climb trees at high elevations, hang and swing from one tree to another without having to lower themselves to the ground often. Adult males weigh between 7.9 and 9.1 kg (17 and 20 lb) and adult females weigh between 7.5 and 9 kg (17 and 20 lb). Their average adult body length is about 50 cm (20 in). Their coloration ranges from light brown to dark on upper parts including the head. Their most distinctive characteristic is a whitish triangular forehead patch, although not all spider monkeys have one. Some few individuals have pale blue eyes.
Brown spider monkeys are found in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. In Colombia, they are found from the right bank of the Magdalena River in the Magdalena and Cesar Departments, the south western portions of Guajira in the northernmost parts of the Serrania de Perija, and in the middle Magdalena River Valley at least to the Caldas and Cundinamarca Departments. In Venezuela, brown spider monkeys are normally found at altitudes between 20 and 700 m (66 and 2,297 ft).
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Wikipedia