The spider monkey is a true monkey. It has nails on its toes and fingers and it possesses a tail that is prehensile and in many ways more useful to it than its hands or feet. The spider monkey’s tail is its most extraordinary possession. It is longer than the monkey’s body is—over two feet in length in an adult, and composed of twenty-three vertebrae, which give it suppleness and strength. It is longer and narrower than any of the monkey’s other limbs and can be used to reach farther and into smaller places than can the animal’s arms and legs. The monkey can hang by it, swing by it, pick fruit with it, even throw things with it.
The normal means of travel of the spider monkey is known as brachiation —a swinging progression from one limb or vine to the next and on to the next that is like the movement of a trapeze artist on swings.
Normally the spider monkey dwells in the topmost branches of the tall forest trees, and seldom if ever comes down to the ground.
The spider monkey travels in bands of ten, twenty, or more, often mingling with the capuchin monkey. At dawn it begins to look for food and is busiest until about ten o’clock in the morning. It feeds periodically throughout the day but not with the same intense activity with which it began at dawn.
When it walks along a limb on all furs, it carries its tail arched into an S shape. If startled by something below, it will often descend to get a closer look at the intruder, emitting a barking sound that has been described as “terrier-like.” It has been known to throw twigs and branches down at humans and to give other forceful signs of its displeasure at their presence.
Captivity has less dire consequences for the spider monkey than for many others, which, as a rule, do not live well in zoos or private homes. In spite of the expression of worry on its face, the spider monkey has a gentle, friendly disposition, and its constitution is relatively hardy. For this reason it is much valued as a pet.
As opposed to the female marmoset, who calls upon her mate to assist her at the birth of her young, the female spider monkey withdraws from her troop shortly before she is due to give birth, and does not return to it until two to four months have passed. Then she returns, bringing her young with her. And it is she, not the male, who carries them about, first clinging to her chest, later riding on her back. In twelve months the young spider monkey achieves its full skeletal growth, though it continues to gain weight after that time. There are four different species of spider monkeys and four times as many subspecies, each differing from the others in some degree—in colour or texture of coat, in habitat, diet, and so on.
Spider Monkey Pictures
