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Information about Woolly Spider Monkey

Muriquis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Primates
Family:Atelidae
Subfamily:Atelinae
Genus:Brachyteles
Spix, 1823
Type species
Ateles arachnoides
É. Geoffroy, 1806
Species
Brachyteles arachnoides
Brachyteles hypoxanthus


The muriquis, also known as woolly spider monkeys, are the monkeys of the genus Brachyteles. They are closely related to both the spider monkeys and the woolly monkeys. There are two species, the Southern (B. arachnoides) and Northern Muriqui (B. hypoxanthus). They are the two largest species of New World monkeys, and the northern species is one of the most endangered of all the world's monkeys. They are found only in the Atlantic coast forests of southeastern Brazil at altitudes ranging from sea level to 1500 m.

The woolly spider monkeys are 15-23 inches long without its tail and weigh from 10-20 pounds. They range in coloration from brown to black and the underside of their tails has no fur at the end.

Muriquis are folivores, but will also eat significant amounts of fruit and flowers in the rainy season, as well as bark, bamboo, ferns, nectar, pollen, and seeds.

As is common to many platyrrhines, males are philopatric and females tend to move out into other groups at the onset of adolescence around 5 - 7 years of age, later reaching maturity at an average age of 11 years. On average, males reach maturity in half this time.

Observed group sizes range from 8 to 43, and contain plentiful amounts of both males and females. Muriqui are polygamous, and unlike many other primates males spend large periods of time together without significant aggressive encounters. As such, they are also not territorial.

The name "muriqui" comes from a native Tupi word meaning approximately 'largest monkey'. The arachnoides species is also known as "mono carvoeiro", which translates to "Charcoal Monkey".

References

  • Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 151. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.2005&rft.edition=3rd%20edition&rft.pub=Johns%20Hopkins%20University%20Press&rft.pages=151&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fnmnhgoph.si.edu%2Fmsw%2F"> 

External links

Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

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Primates
Linnaeus, 1758

Families
  • 15, See classification
A primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the last category
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Atelidae
Gray, 1825

Genera

Alouatta
Ateles
Brachyteles
Lagothrix
Oreonax

The Atelidae are one of the four families of New World monkeys now recognised.
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Atelinae
Gray, 1825

Genera

Ateles
Brachyteles
Lagothrix
Oreonax

Atelinae is a subfamily of New World monkeys in the family Atelidae, and includes the various spider and woolly monkeys.
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Johann Baptist von Spix (February 9, 1781 - March 14, 1826) was a German naturalist.

Spix was born in Höchstadt. In 1817 he travelled to Brazil with Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, returning in 1820 with specimens of 6,500 plants, 2,700 insects, 85 mammals, 350 birds,
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In biology, a type is that which fixes a name to a taxon. Depending on the nomenclature code which is applied to the organism in question, a type may be a specimen, culture, illustration, description or taxon.
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B. arachnoides

Binomial name
Brachyteles arachnoides
(É. Geoffroy, 1806)

The Southern Muriqui, Brachyteles arachnoides, is a muriqui (woolly spider monkey) species endemic to Brazil.
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Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (April 15,1772 - June 19, 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories.
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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B. arachnoides

Binomial name
Brachyteles arachnoides
(É. Geoffroy, 1806)

The Southern Muriqui, Brachyteles arachnoides, is a muriqui (woolly spider monkey) species endemic to Brazil.
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B. hypoxanthus

Binomial name
Brachyteles hypoxanthus
(Kuhl, 1820)

The Northern Muriqui, Brachyteles hypoxanthus, is a muriqui (woolly spider monkey) species endemic to Brazil.
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monkey is any member of either the New World monkeys or Old World monkeys, two of the three groupings of simian primates, the third group being the apes. The New World monkeys are classified within the parvorder Platyrrhini, whereas the Old World monkeys (superfamily
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genus (plural: genera) is part of the Latinized name for an organism. It is a name which reflects the classification of the organism by grouping it with other closely similar organisms.
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Ateles
E. Geoffroy, 1806

Type species
Simia paniscus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

Ateles paniscus
Ateles belzebuth
Ateles chamek
Ateles hybridus
Ateles marginatus

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Lagothrix
É. Geoffroy, 1812

Type species
Simia lagotricha
Humboldt, 1812

Species

Lagothrix lagotricha
Lagothrix cana
Lagothrix lugens
Lagothrix poeppigii

The
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B. arachnoides

Binomial name
Brachyteles arachnoides
(É. Geoffroy, 1806)

The Southern Muriqui, Brachyteles arachnoides, is a muriqui (woolly spider monkey) species endemic to Brazil.
..... Click the link for more information.
B. hypoxanthus

Binomial name
Brachyteles hypoxanthus
(Kuhl, 1820)

The Northern Muriqui, Brachyteles hypoxanthus, is a muriqui (woolly spider monkey) species endemic to Brazil.
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Platyrrhini
E. Geoffroy, 1812

Families

Cebidae
Aotidae
Pitheciidae
Atelidae

The New World monkeys are the four families of primates that are found in Central and South America: Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae and Atelidae.
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Motto
Ordem e Progresso   (Portuguese)
"Order and Progress"
Anthem
Hino Nacional Brasileiro
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In zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose and relatively little energy. For this reason folivorous animals tend to have long digestive tracts and slow metabolisms.
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Platyrrhini
E. Geoffroy, 1812

Families

Cebidae
Aotidae
Pitheciidae
Atelidae

The New World monkeys are the four families of primates that are found in Central and South America: Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae and Atelidae.
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In animal behaviour philopatry is the tendency of a migrating animal to return to a specific location in order to breed or feed. It derives from the Greek 'home-loving', although it can be applied to more than just the area that an animal was born in.
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Polygamy has been a feature of human culture since earliest history. The term polygamy (many marriages in late Greek) is used in related ways in social anthropology, sociobiology, and sociology.
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Old Tupi or Classical Tupi is an extinct Tupian language which was spoken by the native Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who lived close to the sea. It belongs to the Tupi-Guarani language subfamily, and which has a written history spanning the 16th, 17th and early 18th
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B. arachnoides

Binomial name
Brachyteles arachnoides
(É. Geoffroy, 1806)

The Southern Muriqui, Brachyteles arachnoides, is a muriqui (woolly spider monkey) species endemic to Brazil.
..... Click the link for more information.
B. hypoxanthus

Binomial name
Brachyteles hypoxanthus
(Kuhl, 1820)

The Northern Muriqui, Brachyteles hypoxanthus, is a muriqui (woolly spider monkey) species endemic to Brazil.
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Colin Groves is a Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.

Born in England, he completed a BSc (London) in 1963, and a PhD (London) in 1966.
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