Mantled Howler Monkey

Facts about Mantled Howler monkey. "Scientific name for Mantled Howler monkey is Alouatta palliata". Mantled Howler monkey are also known as golden-mantled howling monkeys. They are species of howler monkeys from genus alouatta. Just like all other howlers they are known for their loud howling in the wild. But Mantled Howler monkey name "mantled" is a result of the guard hairs that are found on its side.
The Mantled Howler monkey are just like other monkeys of their family. The only major difference is their coloration. The Mantled Howler monkey are black in color except the fridge which has yellow or golden brown guard hairs on the flanks of their bodies.

The Mantled Howler monkey are found in central and South America. They are the biggest monkeys in Central America with the males weighing up to 21.6 pounds (9.8 kgs) and females weighing up to 16.7 pounds (7.6 kg).

When it comes to body length the male Mantled Howler monkey are slightly bigger. Their body length in maturity ranges from 20 inches (50 cm) and 26 5/8 inches (67.5 cm) whereas the females length is 18 7/8 inches (48 cm) and 24 7/8 inches (63 cm). These measurements exclude their prehensile tails which are between 21 1/2 inches (54 cm) and 25 13/16 inches (65.5 cm) respectively. The Mantled Howler monkey have a brain that is small when you compare them with even the smallest monkey species. The brain is around 1.9 ounces (55.1 grams).

The Mantled Howler monkey have an enlarged horseshoe shaped bones and a hollow bone that is around the vocal cords which is used to amplify howls that are made by the males. This helps in communicating because the Mantled Howler monkey can trace each other without really using a lot of energy. After maturity the males’ scrotum turns white.

Mantled howlers monkeys live in large groups. The groups may have 10 to 20 or more members. Each group has 1 to 3 adult males and 5 to 10 adult females. When it comes to ranking, the young have the highest rank compared to the older individuals. The alpha males too have a high ranking. This gives the Mantled Howler monkey higher rights when it comes to mating and resting sites.

Individuals of such groups are not at all related because before sexual maturity the young Mantled Howler monkey live the group and goes to form their own.

Surprisingly Mantled Howler monkey have grooming habits. The females groom the infants and the adult males. Not much aggressiveness has been reported among the same group members. If there is any it is believed to occur silently.

The Mantled Howler monkey are folivorous meaning their diet consist of leaves. This allows them to share their adaptations with other species of their family in order to get a wide variety of leaves. Their molars have high shearing crests which help the monkeys to eat leaves at ease.

But the Mantled Howler monkey are very selective when it comes to the leaves to eat. The mature leaves contain toxins than the young ones and this makes the monkeys prefer the younger leaves. Other delicacies include fruits and flowers that are eaten in dry seasons.

Due to the low energy diets of leaves that the Mantled Howler monkey eat, they normally spend most of their time resting. This is proven by the fact that they sleep all night and the bigger part of their day.

The Mantled Howler monkey have an amazing adaptability where they can use their previous routes to locate their feeding and resting sites.