facts about the black-handed spider monkey
By zteve t evans
Black handed spider monkeys live in the treetops of the rain forests in parts of Central America. With increased human activity their habitats are coming under increasing pressure and threatening their survival.
Sub-species
Black-handed spider monkeys are so named because they have long, thin, arms, black hands, long legs and a long prehensile tail. The monkey uses the tail like an extra limb when moving spider-like though the trees. They are also known as Geoffroy's spider monkey and their species name is Ateles geoffroyi after Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the French naturalist.
There are at least 5 recognised sub-species; the Ateles geoffroyi geoffroyi (no other name), Hooded spider monkey, Ornate spider monkey, Mexican spider monkey, and the Yucatan spider monkey. There are some experts who recognise more.
Physical description
These monkeys have a head and body length of around 30-63 cm and tails can be 59-84 cm in length. Female Black-handed monkeys can weigh between 6-9kg while males are can weigh between 7-9kg.
Though the arms and legs are slender and long their bodies are short in comparison. On the underside of their versatile, long tail is a hairless patch. Their upper fur colouring can vary with degrees of black, reddish-brown and gold-brown differing with the individual.
Their faces often have pale skin like a mask around the muzzle and eyes. They have dark colored feet and arms with the under parts varying in shade from buff, reddish, pale brown or white.
Habitat and Diet
Black-handed spider monkeys can be found in Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Belize. They inhabit semi-deciduous, mangrove and rainforest and located more frequently in wet forests, where the food they like is plentiful. They inhabit the canopy of the forest and are active during the day, sleeping at night.
These monkeys are mainly fruit-eating and show a preference for ripe produce. They also supplement their diet from other types of vegetation such as seeds, nuts, leaves and flowers and also eat any arachnids, insects and eggs that they may come across.
Black-handed spider monkeys are so named because they have long, thin, arms, black hands, long legs and a long prehensile tail. The monkey uses the tail like an extra limb when moving spider-like though the trees. They are also known as Geoffroy's spider monkey and their species name is Ateles geoffroyi after Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the French naturalist.
There are at least 5 recognised sub-species; the Ateles geoffroyi geoffroyi (no other name), Hooded spider monkey, Ornate spider monkey, Mexican spider monkey, and the Yucatan spider monkey. There are some experts who recognise more.
Physical description
These monkeys have a head and body length of around 30-63 cm and tails can be 59-84 cm in length. Female Black-handed monkeys can weigh between 6-9kg while males are can weigh between 7-9kg.
Though the arms and legs are slender and long their bodies are short in comparison. On the underside of their versatile, long tail is a hairless patch. Their upper fur colouring can vary with degrees of black, reddish-brown and gold-brown differing with the individual.
Their faces often have pale skin like a mask around the muzzle and eyes. They have dark colored feet and arms with the under parts varying in shade from buff, reddish, pale brown or white.
Habitat and Diet
Black-handed spider monkeys can be found in Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Belize. They inhabit semi-deciduous, mangrove and rainforest and located more frequently in wet forests, where the food they like is plentiful. They inhabit the canopy of the forest and are active during the day, sleeping at night.
These monkeys are mainly fruit-eating and show a preference for ripe produce. They also supplement their diet from other types of vegetation such as seeds, nuts, leaves and flowers and also eat any arachnids, insects and eggs that they may come across.
Social Structure
Black-handed monkeys are social animals living in groups that vary in size from 20 up to about 40 or more in general and groups of 100 individuals have been observed. Very often there may be twice as many males as female in the group.
They live in what is known as fission-fusion societies where a large group splits into smaller subgroups. With this species, subgroups may consist of 2-6 members and may even remain apart from the main group through the night. The size of the group may vary with habitat and availability of food.
Living most of the time in the tops of the trees they move from branch to branch using all their limbs, including their prehensile tail to grasp branches to suspend and support themselves. The hairless patch on the underside of their tail acts like the palm of a hand to grab and hold onto branches.
Although their arms and legs are long and slender their short body helps give them the acrobatic agility they need to move around safely in their forest canopy environment. Their thumbs are virtually non-existent and they catch hold of branches by curling their palms around them.
They use 'barking' noises to communicate with one another when threatened. If they get separated from the group they make a loud 'whinny' sound.
Breeding
There does not seem to be a regular breeding season with Black-handed spider monkeys. Females will give birth every 2 to 4 years. It is believed that mating is not restricted to dominant males only. All males in a group are believed to take part least once in a 12 month period, though dominant male are thought to mate more often.
Females give birth to a single baby or occasionally twins after a gestation period of around 7.5 months. The mothers carry the young on their chests for up to 2 months until they are ready to cling to her back. After about three months the young will be eating solid food and move independent of their mother. They will still need adult help to cross large gaps in the tree tops until they are large enough to cope themselves.
Threats and conservation
Humans are the biggest threat to Black-handed spider monkeys. In some parts of Central America they have been wiped out by being hunted for food and the pet trade. Living in large groups and being rather noisy animals, especially when threatened, they can be relatively straight forward to find, making them easy targets. They are also under threat from loss of habitat through deforestation by logging and conversion of forest to agricultural land. Zoos are cooperating together to implement a 'Species Survival Plan' which is a breeding programme to try and to help the species survive. Once this becomes more established it should greatly improve their chances of survival.
© 17/10/2009 zteve t evans
Black-handed monkeys are social animals living in groups that vary in size from 20 up to about 40 or more in general and groups of 100 individuals have been observed. Very often there may be twice as many males as female in the group.
They live in what is known as fission-fusion societies where a large group splits into smaller subgroups. With this species, subgroups may consist of 2-6 members and may even remain apart from the main group through the night. The size of the group may vary with habitat and availability of food.
Living most of the time in the tops of the trees they move from branch to branch using all their limbs, including their prehensile tail to grasp branches to suspend and support themselves. The hairless patch on the underside of their tail acts like the palm of a hand to grab and hold onto branches.
Although their arms and legs are long and slender their short body helps give them the acrobatic agility they need to move around safely in their forest canopy environment. Their thumbs are virtually non-existent and they catch hold of branches by curling their palms around them.
They use 'barking' noises to communicate with one another when threatened. If they get separated from the group they make a loud 'whinny' sound.
Breeding
There does not seem to be a regular breeding season with Black-handed spider monkeys. Females will give birth every 2 to 4 years. It is believed that mating is not restricted to dominant males only. All males in a group are believed to take part least once in a 12 month period, though dominant male are thought to mate more often.
Females give birth to a single baby or occasionally twins after a gestation period of around 7.5 months. The mothers carry the young on their chests for up to 2 months until they are ready to cling to her back. After about three months the young will be eating solid food and move independent of their mother. They will still need adult help to cross large gaps in the tree tops until they are large enough to cope themselves.
Threats and conservation
Humans are the biggest threat to Black-handed spider monkeys. In some parts of Central America they have been wiped out by being hunted for food and the pet trade. Living in large groups and being rather noisy animals, especially when threatened, they can be relatively straight forward to find, making them easy targets. They are also under threat from loss of habitat through deforestation by logging and conversion of forest to agricultural land. Zoos are cooperating together to implement a 'Species Survival Plan' which is a breeding programme to try and to help the species survive. Once this becomes more established it should greatly improve their chances of survival.
© 17/10/2009 zteve t evans
References and Attributions
Copyright zteve t evans October 17, 2009
Copyright zteve t evans October 17, 2009
- File:Spider monkey -Belize Zoo-8a.jpg From Wikimedia Commons - Ateles geoffroyi - Photo credit: Michael Schamis -
- Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence
- File:Spider monkey -Belize Zoo-8b.jpg From Wikimedia Commons - Geoffroy's Spider Monkey, also known as Black-handed Spider Monkey - Photo credit: Michael Schamis - Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence
- ARKive
- THE PRIMATA
- Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan, Museum of Zoololgy
- Geoffroy's spider monkey - Wikipedia