Venezuelan red howler
| Venezuelan red howler | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Atelidae |
| Genus: | Alouatta |
| Species: | A. seniculus |
| Binomial name | |
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Alouatta seniculus (Linnaeus, 1766) |
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| Venezuelan red howler range | |
The Venezuelan red howler (Alouatta seniculus) is a South American species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, found in the western Amazon Basin in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. The population in the Santa Cruz Department in Bolivia was split off as a separate species, the Bolivian red howler, in 1986, and more recently, splitting off the population in northeastern South America and Trinidad as the Guyanan red howler has occurred. All howler monkeys belong to the family Atelidae and the infraorder Platyrrhini (New World monkeys).
Sexual dimorphism in this species is small; males range from 49–72 cm and females from 46–57 cm long. The males weigh 5.4-9 kg, while females weigh 4.2–7 kg. It has a long prehensile tail of 49–75 cm. The tail is covered with fur except for the last third of the underside, which allows it to grab branches. The color of both males and females is a deep reddish-brown, and the color shade changes with age. Their faces are surrounded by fur and they have stubby noses.
The jawbone of the red howler monkey is large, especially the body of the mandible. The position of the foramen magnum is very posterior to make way for the expanded jaw and enlarged hyoid bone. Howler monkeys also have an inflated bulla, which is the bony encasement of the middle ear. This makes them an exception among other New World monkeys.
The diurnal Alouatta seniculus is an arboreal primate, so it spends much of its time high in the canopy. Its preferred method of locomotion is quadrupedal walking with minimal leaping. Its long, prehensile tail also assists it by providing both support and grasping abilities. In addition, its hands and feet have a grasping pattern that allows it to better move about in the trees. This can be seen by the wide separation of the second and third digits of the hand.
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Wikipedia