The Atelidae are one of the five

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

New World monkey New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboi ...

s now recognised. It was formerly included in the family Cebidae. Atelids are generally larger monkeys; the family includes the howler,

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

, woolly, and woolly spider monkeys (the latter being the largest of the New World monkeys). They are found throughout the forested regions of Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to northern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Characteristics

The Atelidae family consists of

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

s that are small to moderate in size, usually 34 to 72 cm in head-body length, with the howler monkeys being the largest members of the group, and the spider monkeys being the smallest. They have long

prehensile tail A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has Adaptation (biology), adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully Prehensility, prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and ...

s with a sensitive, almost hairless, tactile pad on the underside of the

distal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position provi ...

part. The tail is frequently used as 'fifth limb' while moving through the trees where they make their homes. They also have nails on their fingers and toes, enabling them to climb. Most species have predominantly dark brown, grey, or black fur, often with paler markings. These are

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

and diurnal animals, with most species restricted to dense

rain forest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

, although some howler monkey species are found in drier forests, or wooded savannah. They mainly eat fruit and leaves, although the smaller species, in particular, may also eat some small insects. They have the

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiology ...

: Females give birth to a single infant (or, rarely, twins) after a

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

period of 180 to 225 days. In most species, individuals give birth every one to three years, and there is little, if any, seasonal peak in the number of births. Atelid monkeys are typically

polygamous Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one h ...

, and live in social groups with anything up to twenty five adults, depending on species. Where groups are relatively small, as is common amongst the howler monkeys, a single male monopolises a 'harem' of females, but larger groups will contain several males, with a clear hierarchy of dominance.

Classification

Currently, 26 species of extant atelid monkey are recognized, grouped into four

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, and two subfamilies. In addition, a number of extinct species from the fossil record have been identified as being within or closely related to this family. Family Atelidae *Subfamily Alouattinae **Genus '' Alouatta'', howler monkeys ***''Alouatta palliata'' group **** Coiba Island howler, ''Alouatta coibensis'' **** Mantled howler, ''Alouatta palliata'' **** Guatemalan black howler, ''Alouatta pigra'' ***''Alouatta seniculus'' group **** Ursine howler, ''Alouatta arctoidea'' **** Red-handed howler, ''Alouatta belzebul'' **** Spix's red-handed howler, ''Alouatta discolor'' **** Brown howler, ''Alouatta guariba'' **** Juruá red howler, ''Alouatta juara'' ****

Guyanan red howler The Guyanan red howler (''Alouatta macconnelli'') is a species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, native to Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, French Guiana, Venezuela and Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is ...

, ''Alouatta macconnelli'' **** Amazon black howler, ''Alouatta nigerrima'' **** Purus red howler, ''Alouatta puruensis'' **** Bolivian red howler, ''Alouatta sara'' **** Venezuelan red howler, ''Alouatta seniculus'' **** Maranhão red-handed howler, ''Alouatta ululata'' ***''Alouatta caraya'' group **** Black howler, ''Alouatta caraya'' ***''

Incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' ****†'' Alouatta mauroi'' (Late Pleistocene) **Genus †'' Cartelles'' ***†'' Cartelles coimbrafilhoi'' (Late Pleistocene) **Genus †'' Paralouatta'', Cuban monkeys ***†''Paralouatta varonai'' ***†''Paralouatta marianae'' **Genus †'' Stirtonia'' ***†''Stirtonia tatacoensis'' ***†''Stirtonia victoriae'' *Subfamily

Atelinae The Atelinae are a subfamily of New World monkeys in the family Atelidae, and includes the various spider monkey, spider and woolly monkeys. The primary distinguishing feature of the atelines is their long prehensile tails, which can support thei ...

**Genus '' Ateles'', spider monkeys *** Red-faced spider monkey, ''Ateles paniscus'' *** White-fronted spider monkey, ''Ateles belzebuth'' ***

Peruvian spider monkey The Peruvian spider monkey (''Ateles chamek''), also known as the black-faced black spider monkey, is a species of spider monkey that lives in Peru, as well as in Brazil and in Bolivia. At long, they are relatively large among species of monkey, ...

, ''Ateles chamek'' *** Brown spider monkey, ''Ateles hybridus'' *** White-cheeked spider monkey, '' Ateles marginatus'' *** Black-headed spider monkey, ''Ateles fusciceps'' *** Geoffroy's spider monkey, ''Ateles geoffroyi'' **Genus '' Brachyteles'', muriquis (woolly spider monkeys) *** Southern muriqui, ''Brachyteles arachnoides'' *** Northern muriqui, ''Brachyteles hypoxanthus'' **Genus '' Lagothrix'', woolly monkeys *** Common woolly monkey, ''Lagothrix lagotricha'' *** Yellow-tailed woolly monkey, ''Lagothrix flavicauda'' **Genus †'' Caipora'' ***†'' Caipora bambuiorum'' (Late Pleistocene) **Genus †'' Protopithecus'' ***†'' Protopithecus brasiliensis'' (Late Pleistocene) **Genus †'' Solimoea'' ***†'' Solimoea acrensis'' (Late Miocene) *Subfamily ''Incertae sedis'' **Genus †'' Chilecebus'' ***†'' Chilecebus carrascoensis'' (Early Miocene) **Genus †'' Mohanamico'' ***†'' Mohanamico hershkovitzi'' (Middle Miocene) Silvestro etal 2017 showed the relationship among the extinct and extant atelid genera:

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20051211200906/http://anthro.palomar.edu/primate/prim_5.htm *https://web.archive.org/web/20051224182239/http://csm.jmu.edu/biology/wunderre/julie_web/family_atelidae.htm {{Authority control Primate families Taxa named by John Edward Gray Extant Miocene first appearances Taxa described in 1825