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Alouatta ululata

(Maranh?o Red-handed Howler Monkey)

Overview

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Endangered

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Maranh?o Red-handed Howler Monkey, Red-handed Howling Monkey

Common Names in Spanish:

Guariba-de-m?os-vermelhas

Description

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Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [1].

Ecology: In Maranhão, they are found in open, transitional babaçu palm forest (Gregorin 2006). The Serra da Ibiapaba, a humid forest enclave (brejo nordestino), has humid forest on its eastern slopes (that remains only because the terrain is so steep). Oliveira et al. (2004) report that in Ceará (Viçosa do Ceará and Coreaú) they are also found in areas of semideciduous and dry forest.

The howler monkeys are the large leaf-eaters of the South American primate communities. The molar teeth are particularly adapted for their chewing leaves through shearing. They spend up to 70% of their day lying and sitting about quietly among the branches, fermenting leaves in their enlarged caecums . Like the spider monkeys, they are prehensile-tailed, with a naked patch of skin on the under surface at the tip . Their most characteristic feature is the deep jaw which surrounds the enlarged larynx and hyoid apparatus, a resonating chamber. It is with this enlarged and highly specialized voice box that they produce their howls (grunts , roars and barks ). Howling sessions , usually involving the entire group, can be heard particularly in the early morning and are audible at distances of 1-2 kms (Drubbel and Gautier 1993).

Howlers are the only New World primates which regularly include mature leaves in their diet , although softer, less fibrous , young leaves are preferred when they are available. Their folivory and ability to eat mature leaves is undoubtedly one of the keys to their wide distribution and the wide variety of vegetation types they inhabit. Mature fruit is the other important food item, especially wild figs (Ficus) in many regions, but they also eat leaf petioles , buds, flowers (sometimes seasonally very important), seeds, moss, stems and twigs , and termitaria. Red howler groups are usually small, ranging in size from 2-16 animals and averaging 4-10 (Neville et al. 1988). Alouatta ululata groups generally comprise four or five or up to 11 or so individuals.

Oestrus lasts 2-4 days, with intervals between oestrous periods of about 17 days. Interbirth intervals are generally about 16.6 months, although they may be shortened by the death of an infant to about 10.5 months (Crockett and Sekulic 1984).[1].

List of Habitats :

Taxonomy

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Notes

Hill (1962) listed five subspecies of the Red-handed Howler Monkey, Alouatta belzebul: A. b . belzebul (Linnaeus, 1766) (restricted by Cabrera [1957] to the Rio Capim, eastern Pará); A. b. discolor (Spix, 1823) from Gurupá, Pará; A. b. ululata Elliot, 1912, from Miritiba, Maranhão; A. b. mexianae Hagmann 1908, from the island of Mexiana, in the Marajó Archipelago, Brazil; and A. b. nigerrima Lönnberg, 1941 (restricted by Cabrera [1957] to Patinga, Amazonas).

Groves (2001, 2005) considered A. discolor (Spix, 1823) and A. ululata Elliot, 1912, to be synonyms of A. belzebul. Gregorin (2006) placed them as distinct species, followed here.[1].

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Alouatta

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 32 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. arctoidea (Ursine Howler Monkey) · A. belezebul (Red-Handed Howler Monkey) · A. belzebul (Black-And-Red Howler Monkey) · A. belzebul belzebul (Black-And-Red Howler Monkey) · A. belzebul discolor (Red-Handed Howling Monkey) · A. belzebul ululata (Red-Handed Howling Monkey) · A. caraya (Black-And-Gold Howler Monkey) · A. coibensis (Coiba Island Howling Monkey) · A. discolor (Spix's Red-Handed Howler Monkey) · A. fusca (Brown Howler) · A. fusca fusca (Brown Howler Monkey) · A. guariba (Brown Howler Monkey) · A. guariba clamitans (Southern Brown Howler Monkey) · A. guariba guariba (Northern Brown Howler Monkey) · A. juara (Juru? Red Howler Monkey) · A. macconnelli (Guianan Red Howler Monkey) · A. nigerrima (Black Howler Monkey) · A. palliata (Golden-Mantled Howling Monkey) · A. palliata aequatorialis (Ecuadorian Mantled Howler Monkey) · A. palliata coibensis (Coiba Island Howler Monkey) · A. palliata mexicana (Mexican Howler Monkey) · A. palliata palliata (Golden Mantled Howler Monkey) · A. palliata trabeata (Azuero Howler Monkey) · A. pigra (Yucat?n Black Howler Monkey) · A. puruensis (Pur?s Red Howler Monkey) · A. sara (Bolivian Red Howling Monkey) · A. seniculus (Colombian Red Howler Monkey) · A. seniculus insulanus (Trinidad Howling Monkey) · A. seniculus juara (Juru) · A. seniculus seniculus (Colombian Red Howling Monkey) · A. ululata (Maranh?o Red-Handed Howler Monkey) · A. villosa (Howler)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. de Oliveira, M.M. & Kierulff, M.C.M. 2008. Alouatta ululata. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/23/2012