common woolly monkey

The taxonomy of the common woolly monkey is still debated. Fooden classified it is as one of two species under the genus Lagothrix with four sub-species (L. l. lagotricha, L. l. lugens, L. l. cana, and L. l. poeppgigii. Later, an analysis of craniodental morphology suggested a move of all sub-species to the species level and also led to the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (formerly Lagothrix flavicauda) being moved to a monotypic genus Oreonax.{{cite journal|last1=Botero|first1=S.|last2=Steven|first2=P.R.|last3=Di Fiore|first3=A.|year=2014|title=A primer on the phylogeography of Lagothrix lagotricha (sensu Fooden) in northern South America|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=82, Pt B|pages=511–7|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2014.05.019|pmid=24905154}} Genetic analyses also identify distinct groups, but different groupings from morphological and molecular data continue to make this a difficult issue that might be addressed with larger data sets.{{cite book|last=Groves|first=C.|year=2001|title=Primate taxonomy|location=Washington, DC|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|series=Smithsonian series in comparative evolutionary biology |isbn=9781560988724}} A 2014 study found the genus Lagothrix to comprise only two species: L. lagothrica and L. flavicauda, with L. lagothrica containing five subspecies; the results of this study have been followed by the American Society of Mammalogists and the IUCN Red List.{{Cite web|title=ITIS - Report: Lagothrix|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=572814#null|access-date=2021-11-20|website=www.itis.gov}}{{Citation|last=Database|first=Mammal Diversity|title=Mammal Diversity Database|date=2021-11-06|doi=10.5281/zenodo.5651212 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/5651212|access-date=2021-11-20}}{{Cite journal|last1=Ruiz-García|first1=Manuel|last2=Pinedo-Castro|first2=Myreya|last3=Shostell|first3=Joseph Mark|date=2014-10-01|title=How many genera and species of woolly monkeys (Atelidae, Platyrrhine, Primates) are there? The first molecular analysis of Lagothrix flavicauda, an endemic Peruvian primate species|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790314002139|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|language=en|volume=79|pages=179–198|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2014.05.034|pmid=24931730 |issn=1055-7903}}

Many published sources use the specific name lagothricha rather than the etymologically correct lagotricha, since Fooden adopted this spelling when he revised the genus.{{cite journal|last=Fooden|first=J.|year=1963|title=A revision of the woolly monkey (genus Lagothrix)|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|volume=44|issue=2|pages=213–247|doi=10.2307/1377454|jstor=1377454}} Von Humboldt used both spellings in his original description of the species.

These five subspecies are known:

• Gray woolly monkey, L. l. cana
• Brown woolly monkey, L. l. lagothrica (type subspecies)
• Colombian woolly monkey, L. l. lugens
• Silvery woolly monkey, L. l. poeppigii
• Peruvian woolly monkey, L. l. tschudii

File:Brown Woolly Monkey.jpg in Brazil]]

Common woolly monkeys are large compared to most other tree-dwelling primates, with a head-body length of {{convert|40|to|60|cm|ft}}, a tail length of {{convert|55|to|75|cm|in}}, and a weight of {{convert|5.5|to|10.8|kg|lb}}. Contrary to their name, they may also be a shade of grey or black as well as brown, and are darker on the head and underparts. The face is naked of any fur and is typically black. Most male woolly monkeys are larger than the females, also having larger canines. Common woolly monkeys are also diurnal.{{Cite web|url=http://www.arkive.org/common-woolly-monkey/lagothrix-lagotricha/|title=Common woolly monkey videos, photos and facts - Lagothrix lagotricha|website=ARKive|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222130634/http://www.arkive.org/common-woolly-monkey/lagothrix-lagotricha/|archive-date=2017-02-22|url-status=dead}}

The common woolly monkey is present in the upper Amazon basin in South America, ranging from the Rio Tapajos in Brazil, to eastern Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, with scattered populations north to Venezuela. They also used to be found in Bolivia, however it is likely they have been extirpated by hunters.{{Cite journal|last1=Group)|first1=Sam Shanee (Neotropical Primate Conservation / IUCN SSC Primate Specialist|last2=Mourthé|first2=Ítalo|last3=Muniz|first3=Camilla Crispim|last4=Moscoso|first4=Paola|last5=Torre|first5=Stella de la|last6=Stevenson|first6=Pablo R.|last7=Link|first7=Andrés|last8=Ravetta|first8=André Luis|last9=Urbani|first9=Bernardo|last10=Guzmán-Caro|first10=Diana Carolina|last11=Groups)|first11=Robert B. Wallace (IUCN SSC Specialist Group member-several|date=2020-03-16|title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Lagothrix lagothricha|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/en|journal=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species}}

Common woolly monkeys are omnivorous, but mainly frugivorous.{{Cite web|url=http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/woolly_monkey|title=Primate Factsheets: Woolly monkey (Lagothrix) Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology|website=pin.primate.wisc.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-02-21}} Their diet consists primarily of fruits containing 1 or 2 large seeds and fruits that are lower in fat and higher in sugar and water.{{Cite journal|author=Ange-van Heugten, K.|author2=Timmer, S.|author3=Jansen, W.L.|author4=Verstegen, M.W.A.|date=2008|title=Nutritional and health status of woolly monkeys.|journal=International Journal of Primatology|volume=29|pages=183–194|doi=10.1007/s10764-008-9233-1|s2cid=25777384 }} Although they prefer certain fruits such as fruits from the Fabaceae (Legume), Moraceae (fig), Convolvulaceae, and Sapotaceae families, which represent roughly 50% of consumption time,{{Cite journal|author=Gonzalez, M.|author2=Clavijo, L.|author3=Betancur, J.|author4=Stevenson, P.R.|name-list-style=amp|date=2016|title=Fruits eaten by woolly monkeys (lagothrix lagothricha) at local and regional scales.|journal=Primates|volume=57|issue=2|pages=241–251|doi=10.1007/s10329-016-0524-4|pmid=26910234|s2cid=12239115 }} fruit abundance and production influence their diet more than preference.{{Cite journal|last=Stevenson|first=P|date=2004|title=Fruit choice by woolly monkeys in Tinigua National Park, Colombia.|journal=International Journal of Primatology|volume=25|issue=2|pages=367–381|doi=10.1023/b:ijop.0000019157.35464.a0|s2cid=27957296}} As such, during periods of scarcity, fruit consumption tends to decrease and leaf and insect consumption increases. Females with dependents tend to eat more leaves, most likely because the leaves contain more protein, which helps the female produce more milk, whereas juvenile woolly monkeys have been observed to eat more arthropods than other members of the group.

The common woolly monkey exhibits generalist and opportunistic foraging behavior, spending a large amount of time eating and moving in the pursuit of food, covering roughly 2 km per day. They tend to prefer fruit species with a clumped fruit distribution and fruits produced by large trees because these tend to produce a larger crop size and reduce the energy spent traveling between fruit patches. Females with offspring were observed to be more efficient foragers than juveniles and adult males. Inter-group competition during feeding times causes the juveniles to be displaced by the adult males and females with offspring resulting in an increase in feeding on arthropods and leaves.

They are found in the rainforest, usually in the canopy of the tallest trees, though they may also be found at shrub layer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Brown_Woolly_Monkey|title=BBC Nature - Common woolly monkey videos, news and facts|access-date=2017-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319163957/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Brown_Woolly_Monkey|archive-date=2017-03-19|url-status=dead}} In certain seasons it is also common for groups to enter flooded forests, due to a higher concentration of berries.

{{listen |filename=Brown woolly monkey alarm call.wav |title=Brown Woolly Monkey Troop Alarm Call|description=Recorded at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station}}

Females drive the relationships that develop between opposite sexes within communities.{{cite journal|last1=Di Fiore|first1=Anthony|first2=Robert C.|last2=Fleischer|title=Social Behavior, Reproductive Strategies, and Population Genetic Structure of Lagothrix Poeppigii|journal=International Journal of Primatology|volume=26|issue=5|year=2005|pages=1137–1173|doi=10.1007/s10764-005-6462-4|s2cid=2205380 }} They do not mingle with other females, whereas males will engage with either sex. Females are possessive of males and may harass others that try to interact with a male. Although they are dominant within their group, females are accepting to outsiders of both genders if there are no offspring-producing females present.{{cite journal|last=Nishimura|first=Akisato|title=Reproductive Parameters of Wild Female Lagothrix Lagotricha|journal=International Journal of Primatology|volume=24|issue=4|year=2003|pages=707–722|doi=10.1023/A:1024681703616|s2cid=24153680 }}

Woolly monkeys have been observed using all four legs when walking/running and climbing, and efficiently making use of intermediate branches rather than just terminal branches when climbing.{{cite journal|last1=Cant|first1=JGH|last2=Youlatos|first2=D|last3=Rose|first3=MD|year=2001|title=Locomotor Behavior of Lagothrix Lagothricha and Ateles Belzebuth in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador: General Patterns and Non-suspensory modes|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=41|issue=2|pages=141–66|doi=10.1006/jhev.2001.0485|pmid=11437524}} They act as more effective seed dispersers than the morphologically similar spider monkey due to longer seed retention time in the digestive tract and the higher variety of seeds eaten.{{cite journal|last1=Stevenson|first1=P.|last2=Castellanos|first2=M.|last3=Pizarro|first3=J.|last4=Garavito|first4=M.|title=Effect of Seed Dispersal by Three Ateline Monkey Species on Seed Germination at Tinigua National Park, Colombia|journal=International Journal of Primatology|volume=23|issue=6|year=2002|pages=1187–1204|doi=10.1023/A:1021118618936|s2cid=5560227 }} Another influence on seed dispersal rate may be that insects constitute part of their diet.{{cite journal|last=Stevenson|first=P. R.|year=2006|title=Activity and Ranging Patterns of Columbian Woolly Monkeys in North-Western Amazonia|journal=Primates|volume=47|issue=3|pages=239–47|doi=10.1007/s10329-005-0172-6|pmid=16505944|s2cid=10831742 }}

The common woolly monkey is classified as a vulnerable species by the IUCN. It occurs both inside and outside of areas that are protected by national park laws.{{cite journal|last1=Stevenson|first1=P. R.|last2=Guzmán|first2=D. C.|last3=Defler|first3=T. R.|title=Conservation of Colombian primates: an analysis of published research|journal=Tropical Conservation Science|volume=3|pages=45–62|doi=10.1177/194008291000300105|year=2010|doi-access=free}}

Although the common woolly monkey has a much wider range compared to the other species in the genus Lagothrix (the yellow-tailed woolly monkey),{{cite book|last=Defler|first=Thomas Richard|title=Historia natural de los primates colombianos|publisher=Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología|year=2010}} it is regarded as vulnerable because of predicted future pressures. Human activity is the biggest threat for this species, particularly the building of new highways through parts of the Amazon and the attendant deforestation and increase in human activity. This leads to displacement and provides new access into the forests, creating the opportunity for more hunting to occur.{{cite report|year=2016|title=Part IV: Review of selected species subject to long- standing import suspensions|publisher=UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre|pages=17}} Hunting is mostly carried out by the indigenous communities of this region of the Amazon. Its large size makes the brown woolly monkey highly susceptible to being hunted by locals.{{cite journal|last=Peres|first=C. A.|year=1991|title=Humboldt's woolly monkeys decimated by hunting in Amazonia|journal=Oryx|volume=25|issue=2|pages=89–95|doi=10.1017/S0030605300035122|doi-access=free}} Individuals may also be sold locally as pets. After the mothers are hunted, the babies can be sold for up to approximately $80 USD. Declining populations of woolly monkeys may have wider ecosystem impacts due to their function as seed dispersers and their role as both predator and prey.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

Many South American national parks have specific laws that prevent both deforestation and the hunting of animals, whereas some do not forbid hunting. Parks and reserves that fully protect the brown woolly monkey include Sumaco-Napo Galeras National Park, Cayambe-Coca and Cofán-Bermejo Ecological Reserve and Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in Ecuador; Nevado de Huila, Puracé, Cueva de los Guacharos and Picachos Natural National Parks in Colombia; and Majuna-Kichwa and Yaguas Reserved Zone in Peru. Algodón Medio Putumayo and Bajo Putumayo-Yagua in Peru offer partial protection. It has been suggested that the local extirpation of the species in some parts of its former range in Brazil was caused by the lack of hunting laws enforced upon indigenous groups.

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{{Wikispecies-inline|Lagothrix lagotricha}}

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Category:Woolly monkeys

Category:Primates of Brazil

Category:Mammals of Peru

Category:Mammals of Ecuador

Category:Mammals of Colombia

Category:Mammals described in 1812

Category:Taxa named by Alexander von Humboldt