Fun Facts-Black Howler Monkey

Fun Facts-Black Howler Monkey

Male

1. One of ten species of howler monkeys (genus: Alouatta) located in Central and South America.

2. Alouatta caraya are found in eastern Bolivia, southern Brazil and Paraguay and northern Argentina.

3. This species preferred habitats are rainforest and mixed deciduous forest.

4. Black and gold howler monkeys are about two feet (cm) long with a 30-inch (cm) tail.

5. Males weigh 11-18 pounds (5.0-8.3 kg); females weigh eight to 12 pounds (3.8-5.4 kg).

Female

6. Males are covered with black fur; females have gold fur with a black face.

7. Strong prehensile tail, bare on the underside so it is sensitive to touch; acts like a fifth hand.

8. Howler monkeys have large necks and lower jaws and super-sized vocal cords.

9. Like all howlers, their hyoid and larynx housing the vocal apparatus are enlarged.

10. Howling sessions take place at dawn and serve to let the other troops know where a particular troop is and to maintain distance between the groups.

11. They will also defend their territory by forming fecal mounds and rubbing the fecal matter on branches and themselves.

12. Mostly leaf-eaters (folivorous), but they supplement their diet with fruit, flowers and seeds.

13. The black howler monkey is preyed on by harpy eagles and jaguars.

14. Alloparenting is practiced where other females of the group carry, groom, and protect infants other than their own. Alloparenting is sometimes practiced by the males of the group as well.

15. Howler monkeys are noted for their remarkably loud guttural calls described as howls or growls. The male howler monkey has the loudest call of any primate. Their calls can be heard as far as three miles away. The angle of the lower jaw and the hyoid bone are greatly enlarged. These adaptations make possible the loud vocal resonations that amplify the sounds they project. These loud calls are used by male howler monkeys to communicate group location, distance and composition. Calls are also used to mark territory and keep intruders away.  The call can be heard up to 3 miles away.

16. Male and female black howler monkeys look very different. Males are all black but the females have gold fur and a black face. This difference is called dimorphic coloration. All babies have gold colored fur when they are born, but by the time they are two and a half years old, the male’s fur color.

17. changes to black. The gold color of females and young may help them blend into the forest providing protection from predators.

18. Howler monkeys have prehensile tails- a special feature that is useful for treetop living. Prehensile tails have a patch of bare skin on the underside of the last part of the tail that allows them to grasp branches. They rarely leap or jump from one branch to another. Instead they use their strong, muscular tails to anchor themselves as they climb in the trees. They use their tails to extend their reach and they can even hang from a tree by their tail alone.

19. Howlers are the largest monkeys in the New World.

20. Howler monkeys spend 75% of their time resting, and rarely leave the trees.

21. Most of their diet consists of leaves.

22. Alouatta is the most widespread New World monkey genus.

23. Black howler monkeys live in small groups with about six monkeys in each group.

24. They eat mainly leaves and some fruit.

25. They usually move around on all four limbs and not on two like humans.

26. Black howler monkeys can live naturally in the wild until they are around 16 years old.

27. Female black howler monkeys cannot reproduce until they are about 5 years old.  They have six month pregnancies and the babies depend on them for everything for at least 10 months. They only reproduce every 2-3 years so once the populations start to decline, recovery is very difficult.