Brown Howler Monkey

Facts about Brown Howler monkey. "Scientific name for Brown Howler monkey is Alouatta guariba". Brown Howler Monkey is a variety of New World monkey that belongs to the genus Alouatta of the Atelidae family. The Brown Howler monkey largely inhabit forests in the southeastern parts of Brazil and far northeastern parts of Argentina. Usually, they live in groups and they are notably uneven in color, with some monkeys appearing in black or reddish-orange in color.

Features of Brown Howler monkey

An adult male Brown Howler Monkey is larger than the females, which is capable of attaining a body length between 21 1/4 to 23 1/4 inches (54cm to 59cm), whereas the female Brown Howler monkey have a body length ranging from 17 11/16 to 19 5/16 inches (45cm to 49cm). Male Brown Howler monkey also dominate female monkeys in their body weight, ranging from 11.6 to 15.7 pounds (5.3 kg to 7.15 kg), whereas the females have a body weight between 9 to 11 pounds (4.1 kg to 5.0 kg).

As the name suggests, the Brown Howler Monkey has its coat brown in color, although the color may differ from brown to dark black or red. The hair of the Brown Howler monkey is sparser and lighter on their belly, and their ears and face are bare and dark.

Similar to other howler monkeys, the Brown Howler Monkey boasts a large thickset frame. In the Brown Howler monkey variety, usually, the male monkeys have an elongated tail that are prehensile, with the tail length, ranging from 20 7/16 to 26 5/16 inches (52 – 67cm), whereas the females have a tail length between 18 7/8 to 22 1/4 inches (48cm and 57cm). The Brown Howler monkey have no fur on their underside close to the tip. These astounding features allow the Brown Howler monkey to suspend from their tail and use their tail as a grip during feeding.

Like other howler monkey varieties, the Brown Howler Monkey is best recognized for its impressive howls. Their howls can be heard for more than 1 mile (1.6 km) and their howls resemble to the roar of a lion. Far from being hazardous killers, the Brown Howler monkey are docile, arboreal vegetarians. Currently, there are 10 species in their family that can be easily recognized by the color of their coat.

The habitat ranges of the Brown Howler Monkey are small, equal to 31 hectares for a group of 15 to 20 monkeys because the Brown Howler monkey restrict their traveling distances for feeding. Male Brown Howler monkey defend their habitat ranges by threats and combating, which defends the group and allows female monkeys to spend more energy in reproducing and caring the infants. Usually, female Brown Howler monkey have only one offspring that are weaned before they attain the age of one year.

Diet of Brown Howler monkey

Mostly, the Brown Howling Monkey feeds on flowers, leaves and fruit, although their diet composition differs consistent with the season and their locality in the forest. During the autumn and winter season, the Brown Howler monkey spend most of their time in feeding, owing to the inferior food quality and the increased demands on energy in these chiller months.

Behavior of Brown Howler monkey

The behavior of the Brown Howler Monkey varieties has drawn the attention of scientists over the years. It is recommended that, among the vertebrates, the noisiest male Brown Howler monkey would attract nearly all female monkeys by advertising his power. However, unlike other howler monkey varieties, the Brown Howler Monkey variety does not make a sunrise chorus and appears to keep the majority of its howling for inter-group meetings. These noisy calls thus play a vital role in shunning disagreement between groups and therefore in putting their energy aside that can be better employed for foraging and digesting the food.

The average lifespan of the Brown Howler Monkey ranges from 15 to 20 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.