Azara's night monkey (''Aotus azarae''), also known as the Azara's owl monkey, the southern night monkey, or the mirikiná, is a

night monkey Night monkeys, also known as owl monkeys or douroucoulis (), are nocturnal New World monkeys of the genus ''Aotus'', the only member of the family Aotidae (). The genus comprises eleven species which are found across Panama and much of South Am ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

from South America. It is found in

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 ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. The species is

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a relationship of two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g. ...

, with males providing a large amount of

parental care Parental care is a behavioural and evolutionary strategy adopted by some animals, involving a parental investment being made to the evolutionary fitness of offspring. Patterns of parental care are widespread and highly diverse across the animal k ...

. It is named after

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Félix de Azara Félix de Azara y Perera (18 May 1742 – 20 October 1821) was a Spanish military officer, naturalist, and engineer. Life Félix de Azara y Perera was born on 18 May 1746 in Barbuñales, Aragon. He joined the army and attended a Spanish milita ...

. Although primarily

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

, some populations of Azara's night monkey are unique among night monkeys in being

cathemeral Cathemerality, sometimes called metaturnality, is an organismal activity pattern of irregular intervals during the day or night in which food is acquired, socializing with other organisms occurs, and any other activities necessary for livelihood ...

: active at both day and night. The species is listed as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

Taxonomy

There are three subspecies of Azara's night monkey. * ''Aotus azarae azarae'' * Bolivian night monkey, ''Aotus azarae boliviensis'' * Feline night monkey, ''Aotus azarae infulatus''

Physical characteristics

Due to a lack of data body size and weight measurements of Azara's night monkey have been estimated from a small number of wild samples. The average head and body length of the female is while the male is . The average weight is for male ''A. a. azarae'', for female ''A. a. azarae'', for male ''A. a. boliviensis'', and for female ''A. a. boliviensis''. Its gestation period is about 133 days. The lifespan for Azara's night monkey is unknown, but the captive life span for members of the genus ''Aotus'' is believed to be 20 years.

Behavior and ecology

Azara's night monkey is a

and pair-living species, with the male remaining present to raise the offspring and provide food. The offspring will only stay with its family until two to three years of age and then will disperse to begin a family of its own. There is very little sexual dimorphism in this species. Azara's night monkey is primarily a

frugivore A frugivore ( ) is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance ...

, but also will eat things such as

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s, and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. One of the main advantages of being a nocturnal or cathemeral animal is that there is greatly reduced competition from diurnal animals. Azara's night monkey spends its life in trees and becomes more active when the moon is brighter, tending to keep to its well-known paths. However, uniquely among night monkeys, populations of Azara's night monkey from the

Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or simply Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland tropical dry broadleaf forest natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion o ...

are active both day and night. Azara's night monkey can be found sleeping in groups of between 2 and 5 others in trees. The average group size is about 3 monkeys, consisting of an adult pair and their offspring. It leaps from tree to tree but also moves quadrupedally throughout the forest.

Habitat and distribution

Azara's night monkey is found in northern

, central

and far southeastern

. Its range includes the southern

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

, ranging into more open habitats such as the

. ''Aotus a. azarae'' is found in

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

and semi-

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forest, ''A. a. infulatus'' is found in humid lowland forest and gallery forest, and ''A. a. infulatus'' is found in various forest types. The last has been recorded as high as in the

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

foothills.

Conservation

Azara's night monkey is widespread and believed to be overall fairly common. It is present in several reserves. The species is not considered threatened, but is declining locally due to habitat loss.

References

External links

* information at ThePrimata.
''Aotus'': The Owl Monkey's Natural History
at MD Anderson. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1365852 Azara's night monkey Primates of Brazil Mammals of Bolivia Mammals of Argentina Mammals of Peru Mammals of Paraguay Azara's night monkey Taxa named by Alexander von Humboldt