Squirrel

monkey
By: Sergio Pulido
 Common name : Squirrel
monkey

Name:
Scientific name: Saimiri
Taxonomy:

 Kingdom: Animalia
 Phylum: Chordata
 Class Mammalia
 Order: Primate
 Family: Cebidae
 Subfamily: Samiriiane
 Genus: Saimiri
 Type species: Simia sciureus.
Location, ecosystem
and habitat:
Squirrel monkeys can be found
mostly on central and south
America, and sometimes in Africa
and Asia. Their ecosystem are the
forests and tropical jungles. These
monkeys spend most of their time in
the middle level of the forests,
moving from tree to tree, and they
don’t usually go down from the
trees.
Niche
 Squirrel monkey is small. Males are bigger than females. On average, they can reach 9.8 to 14 inches in
height and 1.7 to 2.4 pounds in weight.
 Due to their small size, squirrel monkeys are easy prey of birds and snakes.
 Symbiotic job: As squirrel monkeys grab fruits from trees, they as well spread those fruit seeds all over the
forest.
 Squirrel monkeys are one of the cleverest monkeys. They have very large brains compared to their body
size.
 Habitat loss is the main threat to the survival of squirrel monkeys, as a result of increased agriculture and
shrinking of the territory of squirrel monkeys, they frequently invade plantations. Farmers kill squirrel
monkeys to prevent damaging of the crops.
 Squirrel monkeys are omnivores. They eat different types of flowers, leaves, buds, nuts, insects, lizards and
eggs.
 Squirrel monkeys have excellent eyesight, and they are able to distinguish colors. This feature facilitates
quick identification of fruit among dense vegetation.
 Squirrel monkeys' mate from January to March. Males fight with each other to gain opportunity to mate.
 Squirrel monkey can survive 15 year in the wild and 20 years in captivity.
 Adaptations: Physical
and Behavioral.
Physical:
1. Teeth: The cheek teeth have large cusps to help eat
insects.
2. Body:The monkeys move mainly by leaping and having
special adapted thighs that are smaller than their lower
legs.
3. Tail: The tail of the Squirrel monkeys, is nor prehensile,
for instance, capable of grasping. But is still useful for
balancing in trees.
4. Fingers: To get fruit and insects in hidden crevices, the
squirrel monkeys have to extremely handy fingers.
Behavioral:
1. The squirrel monkey sticks its tail out whenever it senses
danger. When it does this other monkeys of its group
move out to avoid the predator. The grassland monkey
uses noises to attract females to mate with. This increases
the chance to increase the population and survival.
IUCN Status