Howler Monkey Facts

Howler Monkey Facts

Alouatta caraya 
Alouatta is the most widespread New World monkey genus.
1. Howlers Monkeys are a favorite for animals lovers who visit the rainforest.  Their morning calls work as an alarm clock for the natives and can be heard up to three miles away.  Once the howlers start barking, people know it is time to get up.  The males have a specialized vocal chamber that is shaped like a shell.

2. Howlers are the biggest of the new world monkeys.  They have a long, prehensile tail that works like an extra arm when they are swinging around the canopy.  They have wide, side-opening nostrils and no pads on their rump.

3. Male Howler Monkeys are black in color, while the females are brown. The brownish color allows the females to camouflage themselves from predators. The young howler monkeys cling to their mother's stomach for the first few months of their lives and are most vulnerable to predators.

4. Howler Monkey grows to be about 2 feet in length, not including it's 30-inch tail, making it the largest monkey found in the Americas. Howlers weigh about 15 pounds when they reach adulthood. They have a lifespan of about 20 years.

5. Like other herbivorous monkeys, the Howler Monkey eats mostly leaves, fruit and flowers.

6. Compared to other monkeys, Howler Monkeys don't travel very much. They prefer to stay within their small communities. This makes them very susceptible to habitat destruction. The Howler Monkey is an endangered species throughout its entire range.

7. Howler loud noise comes from an extra bone in their throat.  Their barks make them one of the loudest animals in the world.  Aided by an oversized throat and larynx, which acts like a resonance chamber, so the howling can be heard at least 3 miles away.

8. Howler’s howl to let other monkeys in the area know where they are so they don’t have to get into a fight.

9. Leaders will kill the young of other male monkey to stay as the predominant male.

10. Howlers use their tail to move through the trees and while eating.

11. Howlers live in a troop up to 45 monkeys.

12. They have an opposable thumbs and a prehensile tail.  On the underside of the tail there is a naked area with well developed tactile skin which allows them to be sensitive to touch and act in identifying things, much like a 5th hand.

13. They have a prominent muzzle and a greatly enlarged hyoid bone and larynx. The nostrils close together.

14. The males have black hair and the females have yellow-brown to olive colored hair.

15. Adult males will be seen taking care of offspring that are not their own.

16. Young males are not allowed to handle the infants because they are too rough with them and often kill them.

17. They eat only the best parts of the fruit, so seeds may lie on the ground and germinate, therefore helping with seed dispersal.

18. The baby clings to mom’s belly for the first month then switches to her back.

19. The male howler monkey has the loudest call of any primate.

20. They use their tails to extend their reach and they can even hang from a tree by their tail alone.

21. Black howlers are sexually dimorphic in both size and color. Males are black, females are yellow-brown or olive colored.  Infants are blonde.

22.  The hyoid of howlers has air spaces within bones, one of the few cases of this condition outside of dinosaurs. This allows the super loud “howler” vocalization.

23.  While the females of most species of New World monkeys are trichromats, both male and female howler monkeys are, that is they both see in color.

Trichromacy or trichromaticism is the condition of possessing three independent channels for conveying color information, derived from the three different cone types. Organisms with trichromacy are called trichromats. Wikipedia