Bare-eared Squirrel Monkey

Facts about Bare-eared Squirrel monkey. "Scientific name for Bare-eared Squirrel Monkey is Saimiri ustus". Bare-eared Squirrel Monkey is a variety of New World monkey that belongs to the genus Saimiri of the Cebidae family. The Bare-eared Squirrel monkey are native to Brazil and the eastern parts of Bolivia and they are also called as the Golden-Backed Squirrel Monkey.
The Bare-eared Squirrel monkeys are largely seen in the central parts of the Amazon rain forests in Brazil.
They resemble several other members of the family of the Squirrel Monkey, and they are unique in that they have no tufts of hair projecting from their ears. Usually, the Bare-eared Squirrel monkeys prefer to live in seasonally flooded forests, woodlands along the river border, secondary-growth forests and flood plain regions. The Bare-eared Squirrel monkey use all levels of the wooded areas for one cause or another, but travel and forage mostly in the lower shelter and at ground level where their favorite food resources are copious and easy water accessibility.

Features of Bare-eared Squirrel monkey

An adult Bare-eared Squirrel Monkey is capable of growing to a maximum body length, ranging from 9 13/16 to 13 3/4 inches (25 cm to 35 cm), with the tail length between16 1/2 to 13 3/4 inches (35 cm and 42 cm) and with a body mass, ranging between 26.4 to 35.2 ounces (750 grams and 1100 grams). Usually, the Bare-eared Squirrel monkeys have a 1:17 as the brain mass to body mass ratio that offers them the largest brain, proportionately, among all the primates. Female Bare-eared Squirrel monkeys boast a pseudo-penis that they exploit to show dominance over small size monkeys, much similar to the way the male monkey exhibit their dominance.

The fur of the adult Bare-eared Squirrel Monkey is close and short, with olive color at its shoulders and yellowish orange color on its limbs and back. They have white-colored ears and throat, and their mouth is black in color. The upper portion of the head of the Bare-eared Squirrel monkeys are hairy.

The group of a Bare-eared Squirrel Monkey is called as a troop, tribe, barrel, or cartload. This monkey variety stands separately from the other monkey varieties due to their shortage of ear tufts. They have the largest brains among primates when compared to the size of their body, which ranges from 4 % to 5% of their body mass.

Diet of Bare-eared Squirrel monkey

The Bare-Eared Squirrel Monkey is omnivorous and it mostly spends 75 % to 80% of its daytime in foraging for insects and other small creature prey, in addition to water. When there is no enough food during the dry season, they will feed on animal prey. However, their favorite foods are fruits and insects.

Behavior

Similar to the majority of their New World monkey relations, the Bare-Eared Squirrel Monkey is diurnal and arboreal. Not like the other monkeys, the Bare-eared Squirrel monkeys do not use their tails for climbing, but as a sort of harmonizing pole and as a tool, as well. The movements of these monkeys in the tree branches are very fast. They live jointly in multi-female or multi-male groups with a maximum of 500 monkeys. However, these huge groups can split into smaller groups occasionally.

The Bare-Eared Squirrel monkeys have many vocal calls, as well as caution sounds to defend themselves from great falcons that are a natural hazard to them. The small size of their body makes them vulnerable to predators such as big cats and snakes. For marking the area, the Bare-eared Squirrel monkeys wipe their skin and their tail with their individual urine.

Breeding of Bare-eared Squirrel monkey

Bare-Eared Squirrel monkeys mate only during the driest months of the year, and the female monkeys offer birth once in two years. Usually, the female monkey offers birth to a single brood, which is called as an infant.

The maximum lifespan of the Bare-Eared Squirrel Monkey is 21 years.
Monkey meaning (any mammal of the order Primates), this includes the macaques, capuchins, guenons and langurs, this excludes humans, the anthropoid apes, and, usually, the prosimians and tarsier.