#black squirrel monkey

[rebecacatarina]

[conservationofhope]

Black Squirrel Monkey

Often viewed as a regional subspecies instead of a species, the black spider monkey is a very active monkey with a small body and a long tail. Black spider monkeys have small rounded heads with small eyes. The small face reveals a black, naked snout. The black spider monkey gets its name for the black band of fur running from the crown to the tail. Male and females are similar to each other and infant monkeys  resemble the adults. Black squirrel monkeys are very vocal and communicate using chirps, shrieks, barks, and purrs.

Black squirrel monkeys are active during the day and their diet consists of fruits, insects, nectar, flowers, and small mammals. They move through the trees by either walking on all fours or by leaping, the long tail aids in keeping the monkey balanced. The black spider monkey is mainly found in the lower levels of the rainforest but it has been known to use the higher levels of the canopy. The black squirrel monkeys have one of the most restricted geographical distributions for a primate and are only found between the Solimoes and Japura rivers in Brazil.

Black squirrel monkeys are vulnerable for extinction. Though often being heavily captured for biomedical research and the pet market, the biggest threat to the black spider monkey's existence just so happens to be habitat destruction through selective logging.