Spider Monkey Facts

Spider monkeys are a rare species of monkeys that inhabit the tropical rainforest of Central and South America. These monkeys are occasionally also found in North Mexico. The most distinguishing feature of this species of monkey is its long and lanky limbs and prehensile tail that helps the spider monkey in its swift locomotion. Although these monkeys don’t have thumbs, they manage to grip the branches of trees powerfully. These monkeys spend most of their time aloft. Spider monkeys are social in nature and stay in troops of up to two or three dozen during the day. However, they split up at night in small groups, each group consisting of half a dozen or fewer monkeys. Spider monkeys forage in small groups and foraging is intense especially during the early hours of the day. If you are fascinated by such interesting facts and wish to learn some more amazing facts about spider monkeys, then steer through the section below.

Facts About Spider Monkey

Scientific Name: Ateles geoffroyi

Order: Primates

Family: Cebidae (New World monkeys)

Subfamily: Atelidae

Genus: Ateles

Species: Geoffroyi

Subspecies: geoffroyi

Interesting Facts About Spider Monkey

A spider monkey has a long, prehensile, and muscular tail that is often longer than its body. The tactile and powerful tail of the monkey enables it to move from one branch to another gracefully.
Spider monkeys are black in appearance, although they can be found in golden, brown or red hues.
These monkeys usually eat nuts, fruits, and seeds. It is believed that spider monkeys play an important role in spreading seeds of plants throughout the rainforest of South America.
Some of the most prominent species of spider monkeys include the Columbian black spider monkey, woolly spider monkey, Peruvian spider monkey, white-cheeked spider monkey, Mexican spider monkey, hooded spider monkey, brown-headed spider monkey, ornate spider monkey, black-headed spider monkey, red-faced spider monkey, white-bellied spider monkey, and the white-whiskered spider monkey.
Female spider monkeys are slightly larger in size than their male counterparts. Typically, in a troop, female spider monkeys outnumber their male counterparts. The females also dominate the troop.
Spider monkeys are also known as “trapeze artists”. This is because of their swinging habits from one tree branch to another.
These monkeys hang from tree branches with all the four limbs and tail, thus making them look like spiders and earning them their unique names as well.
Spider monkeys can make loud noises that can be heard up to 1000 meters on the ground and up to 2000 meters above the canopy. The loud noises they make are to alert the other members of their troops against certain dangers.
The average life span of a spider monkey is 27 years in the wild and 30 years in captivity.
Spider monkeys get agitated by human contact.
Local people hunt spider monkeys for their meat.
Every two to five years, a female spider monkey gives birth to an offspring.
Infant spider monkeys are completely dependent on their mothers for nourishment. However, after 10 weeks of birth, the juvenile spider monkey starts to explore the forest of its own, mix and play with other juvenile spider monkeys.

Spider monkeys are fascinating creatures. Sadly, spider monkeys are fast becoming endangered species as the rainforests are being destroyed by different human activities.

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