Brown Headed Spider Monkey

Brown Headed Spider Monkey
Ateles fusciceps robustus

Geographic distribution: Ecuador, Colombia

With their gangly limbs and the most mobile and dextrous grasping prehensile tail of any monkey, spider monkeys are aptly named. Look for the bare skin on the underside of the tail which bears its own dermatoglyphics (skin ridges) which are like finger prints, unique to each individual. Their thumbs are greatly reduced and their hands are hook-like, which is ideal for fast swinging locomotion known are brachiation.

Spider monkeys depend for the vast majority of their diet on ripe fruit, and they have an extremely flexible society that allows them to capitalize on the changing nature of the supply. They forage either singly or in aggregations of up to 20 individuals, but sleep as a social unit at night. They have a large brain which allows them to remember the location and fruiting schedules of trees. Infants have a lot to learn and remain dependent on their mothers for several years.