Animals
Class: Mammal
Biome:
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
About this animal
A native of Colombia in South America, spider monkeys are the largest new world monkey. The spider monkey has a prehensile (grasping) and extremely flexible tail. It has a black body and long limbs with thumb-less hands. They eat fruits but consume leaves for protein, and have large stomachs to digest the leaves, which give them a pot-bellied appearance!! The female spider monkeys are slightly larger than the males weighing up to 20 pounds on average. Their overall body length from their heads to the tip of their tails can vary from 44 – 58 inches. Spider monkeys are found in social groups of up to 30 individuals; however, they are usually broken up into smaller foraging groups of 3-4 individuals.
Did you know?
Spider monkeys fill an important ecological role in South America. These primates often feed on an assortment of fruits and as they travel throughout their environment. As they go, they disperse undigested seeds in their manure within 2-3 hours. The seeds soon sprout to replenish the vegetation that sustains South America's rich rainforests.
