The primate Muriquis, are woolly spider monkeys and are of the Brachyteles genus. They are classified as the Atelidae family. Two other genuses that are closely related to this woolly spider monkey are the Ateles and the Lagothrix. Muriquis can be found scattered all over the southeast of Brazil, extending from Bahia in the north to Sao Palo in the south. Their main habitat is the Atlantic coastal forest and mature evergreen to deciduous lowlands.
Muriquis are the largest body of the New World monkeys and come in a diversity in colors from gray to yellowish-brown with fur covering their bodies besides for their faces. The face of muriquis are bare and the two species are identified from each other as the northern species, “B. hypoxanthus” which…show more content… arachnoides”, have a black face with pink spots (“Primate Info Net: Muriqui” para. 1). Another difference between the two species are the teeth. Male muriquis from the southern area have longer canine teeth than the females of the same species. Southern males have longer canines than northern males as well, but there is no sexual dimorphism seen in the canine teeth of northern males and females. Muriquis also have a prehensile tail which helps and is used in suspensory locomotion which is only found and seen in a couple species of the “New World monkeys” (“Primate Info Net: Muriqui” para. 2). Muriquis having small or absent thumbs and a prehensile tail helps with rapid brachiation and suspensory climbing. The tip of the tail having a small area of bare skin or friction pad, helps with their grip as well. This all comes in handy when hunting for food or getting away from predators.When it comes to food, the diet of muriquis mainly consists of fruit and leaves, but they also eat flowers, seeds, bark, bamboo, and fern. Depending on the availability of the resources, they spend 51% of time consuming leaves, 32% to fruit, 11% to flowers, and 6%
