Spider Monkeys

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Spider Monkeys are considered the smartest of the primates, they can adapt to new surroundings and have even been known to use primitivetools, such as a rock to break a nut or a stick to pull a fruit over to them that they can’t reach. Spider Monkeys live in groups of 15-25 individuals during the night and evenings but during the day, the break out into sub groups of 2-8 in search for food and adventure. This behavior is only found in one other species of monkey the Chimpanzee. The chimp our our nearest realitive to the primate family. Females tend to leave the groups when they hit puberty and join other groups of Spider Monkeys, the males tend to stick with the one family group.

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Behaviour of the Spider Monkeys

Spider Monkeys use body language and gestures and stances to communicate their intentions even when mating. The stances and gestures that we use are very similar to that of a spider monkey when trying to catch ones attention. The bigger the threat to the monkeys the louder the warning call, if a tiger or leopard approaches they will bark at the direction of the threat, to warn the others of its location. If it was a small threat such as another monkey they would climb to the end of the branch and shake the leaves to warn it away, if there are more than one they will bark too. If the bigger threat grows closer to the monkey they will defend themselves by breaking off branches and throwing them at the intruder.

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Sleeping Habits

The Spider Monkeys sleep at night high up in the trees in their groups of up to 25. They position themselves up there away from dangers such as snakes and other predators. They usually position themselves in the fork of   a branch on a lighter bow, rather than the trunk of the tree. This allows them to be disturbed easier if a predator should come. There is always at least one monkey that is awake at any given time keeping watch while the rest sleep, as if they had a night watch shift set up.

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The Diet of a Spider Monkey

Spider Monkeys diet consist mostly of nuts and fruit, they can keep a stable health diet on just two kinds of fruits or nuts. Most of the little fruits produced by the rainforest can be swallowed whole but they don’t leave any trace of the larger fruits either. They eat the skins and seeds and these parts are not digested and passed as the excretion on the forest floor. They usually feed in the moring times between 10 am and noon, it is up to the lead female to make sure there is enough food in an area to satisfy the group, if there is not and an area can not be found, they break away into their smaller groups.

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Reproduction

Spider Monkeys reproduce all year round, the female is the one who chooses her mate. This male will be chosen from the group that she has joined. The couple that are mating will sniff each other in a richual known as Anogenital Sniffing, they do this to determine readiness of the mate. Males have no part in rasing the young and after 232 days of pregnancy the mother will carry the infant around on her stomach with the infant holding on for its life. They carry they infant for the first month after its birth, after this stage they will carry them on their backs for a further two months. They do this to give the infant an idea of height and awareness as the move along te branches, it gives them great depth perseption too.

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