* Threatened or Endangered
Colombian Black-headed Spider Monkey *
: Ateles fusciceps rufiventris
: Mammal
: Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
: Mostly fruit. Also includes leaves, nuts, seeds, bark, insects, and flowers.
: Up to 24 inches tall and 20 lbs.
: Vulnerable due to deforestation and poaching.
This subspecies of spider monkey has a black body and thumbless hands. They spend a heavy majority of their time in tree tops and use their long prehensile tail as an extra limb to help manuever their way through forests. The tip of this tail is hairless and helps with grip. Each tail tip has completely unique markings, similar to human fingerprints. These are very social animals and travel in groups of up to 100 monkeys that will split into smaller subgroups to forage for food.