Sunday Monkey Facts
This post is sponsored by SAASA and Monkeyland
Fun Facts about Squirrel Monkeys
Long tail of squirrel monkeys is not prehensile, but it provides balance when they move through the treetops. Squirrel monkeys are arboreal (they live on the trees) animals. They spend 99% of their lives in the trees.
Squirrel monkeys are considered to be one of the cleverest monkeys due to having a large brain compared to the size of their body.
They are highly vocal and have around 25-30 different types of call.
These groups consist of both male and females and can range in numbers anywhere between 25 and 500! The only time the group splits up is when they’re hunting for food.
Squirrel monkeys wee on their hands. It is a way of marking territory. It also helps control their body temperature, plus it forms part of their self-cleaning ritual…
Squirrel monkeys get their name from their behaviour. They’re arboreal animals, meaning that they live in trees and spend most of their time hopping between branches. They’re also small, quick and nimble, so it’s probably inevitable that they were nicknamed after squirrels. However, it should be noted that it’s only a nickname. Squirrel monkeys aren’t actually related to squirrels. In fact, their scientific name has nothing to do with squirrels at all; it translates to “small monkey” in a native South American tongue.
Squirrel monkeys were named for their tree-hugging habits in the same way that spider monkeys were named for their long, spider-like fingers.
More from SAASA and Monkeyland next week on Lets Go Big Tunes blog page