Squirrel+Monkey

=**Squirrel Monkey**= Alyssa Doyle

[[image:squirrel_monkey.jpg width="313" height="247"]]
===SHORT DESCRIPTION- Squirrel monkeys grow to 25 to 35 cm, plus a 35 to 42 cm tail. They weigh 750 to 1100g. Remarkably, the brain mass to body mass ratio for squirrel monkeys is 1:17, which gives them the largest brain, proportionately, of all the primates.===

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_monkey
===POPULATION- Central American squirrel monkeys have large group sizes (40 - 70 individuals) in continuous forest. They are non-aggressive and egalitarian - neither males nor females appear to be dominant. Females are usually the ones who disperse to another troop.===

===LIFE SPAN- Squirrel monkey groups are subdivided into adult male bands, mother-infant bands, and juvenile bands. Adult females with their young form the core of the group. Adult males intermingle with the females only during the several months of mating season. Single young born after 6 months gestation. Mother is not particularly attentive. Females mature at age 2 1/2; males at 4-5 years. Life span is 15 years.===

**http://www.oaklandzoo.org/atoz/azsqmky.html**
===HABITIAT-Currently, deforestation and habitat fragmentation due to agriculture and tourism development are the major causes of decline. Insecticide spraying, the pet trade and electrocution from electric power lines have also adversely affected these squirrel monkeys.===

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_monkey
===OFFSPRING- Squirrel monkey females become sexually mature at approximately two and a half years old. Males become sexually mature at four years old. In the wild and in captivity, squirrel monkeys are seasonal breeders; birth usually occurs in the wet season, February to April. The gestation is about one hundred and forty-two days. Most of the births take place at night; labor takes about eighty to one hundred and sixty-five minutes. The baby clings to the back of the mother from birth. The father of the baby squirrel monkey doesn't help in raising the young, but other mothers with new young will. Squirrel monkeys give birth to only one monkey. The weight of the infant is about 112 grams for the males, and 106 grams for females. Very soon after the birth, the baby starts sucking. After twenty days, the baby starts to take some solid food. After a period of six months, the infant is completely weaned.===

http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/sqmonkey.htm
===INTERESTING FACT- They live together in multi-male/multi-female groups with up to 500 members. These large groups can, however, occasionally break into smaller troops. They have a number of vocal calls, including warning sounds to protect themselves from large falcons, which are a natural threat to them. Their small body size also makes them susceptible to predators such as snakes and felids. For marking territory, squirrel monkeys rub their tail and their skin in with their own urine.===