Sailing Caps – Wikipedia

The Brackets ( Ateles ) are a genus from the primate family of the clip -tailed monkeys (Atelidae) within the new world. These animals are adapted to a tree -dwelling lifestyle with their long cocks and their long limbs. The genus comprises seven species that live in Central and South America. In English they are called spider monkeys , however, spider monkeys in German denotes a different primate genus.

The fur of the cling monkeys is short and rough, its color varies depending on the type and age of yellow -gray over brown to black, the underside is usually brighter. The hairless face is usually black, sometimes also reddish, colored. Your physique is slim, the tail is longer than the body, it is extremely agile and is used as a gripping tail, for which the hairless underside of the tail tip also serves. With their long limbs, they are perfectly adapted to the hanging lifestyle, the hands are hook -shaped, their thumbs are receded. You can reach a head rump length of 38 to 63 centimeters, the tail is 50 to 90 centimeters long. The weight is 7 to 9 kilograms, sometimes up to 11 kilograms. The gender dimorphism in terms of size is only weak.

Clamp monkeys have a large distribution area, it ranges from southern Mexico to Bolivia and the middle Brazil. Their habitat is forests, whereby they mostly stay in deeper tropical rainforests.

Comfortable monkeys are day -active tree dwellers, who are mostly in the upper crown layer. They move quickly and agile through the branches, either four -legged or swing -hanging, using the tail as fifth limbs. You can hang on a hand, foot or on the tail for a long time. However, they rarely come to the ground. It is said that only Gibbons exceed the bracket monkeys of acrobatics in the trees. But you can also balance on branches and pick up objects with your cock. In the morning they search for food to spend the rest of the day.

Clasps live together in groups, whereby the group behavior is very variable. Groups usually comprise 12 to 35 animals, but they often divide themselves in around two to five-strong subgroups. However, the group size should generally depend on the fertility of the habitat. With long loud screams that are expelled by the males, the shared subgroups communicate with each other. Within a group, communication through facial expressions and mutual fur care plays an important role.

The main food of the bracket monkeys is fruits (around 80–89%), and they also consume leaves and other plant material.

Brain monkeys have a very low reproductive rate. The female only gives birth to a young animal every two to four years, with the tag period around 230 days. The young animal is weaned at 12 to 15 months and is self -employed at a year and a half. After four to five years it becomes sexually mature. A copy in a zoo was 33 years old, in the great outdoors the life expectancy is likely to be lower.

How the other clamp’s cock monkeys were and are hunted due to their meat. Another threat is the loss of the habitat by deforestation of the rainforests. Since clipping monkeys usually only occur in primary forests, they are very sensitive to human disorders. According to IUCN, all seven species are in the endangered species, two of them, the lignite and brown bracket monkeys are “threatened with extinction” (according to IUCN “( critically endangered ).

The bracket monkeys are part of the family of clamp’s tail monkeys, all of which are characterized by their gripping tail. They are closely related to wool and spider monkeys.

The scientific name is from the Greek pre -iling a (not) and the Greek word Teleios (completely) formed and refers to the rudimentary thumb. ^[first]

Seven species are differentiated:

• The white -fired clip monkey ( Ateles belzebuth ) has a striking white or yellow -brown triangle on the forehead in some animals.
• The black face clip ( A. chamek ) is characterized by the black fur and the dark face.
• The lignite clip monkey ( A. fusciceps ) is located in Panama and the northwestern South America. Not all animals have the eponymous brown head.
• The geoffroy-bracketphere ( A. geoffroyi ) has the northernmost distribution area, it occurs from southern Mexico to northern Colombia.
• The brown bracket monkey ( A. hybridus ) lives in a small area in Colombia and Venezuela.
• The white cheek clip monkey ( A. marginatus ) is characterized by its mask -like facial drawing, he lives in Brazil.
• The red -facial clip monkey ( A. paniscus ) has a red face and a black fur. He lives in northeastern South America.

1. ↑ Adrian A. Barnett: The Meanings of Cacajao and Uacari: Folk Etymology in Neotropical Primate Taxonomy . In: Neotropical Primates . 2009, S. 147–152 , doi: 10.1896/1413-4705.12.3.147 (English, bioone.org ).