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The Night Monkey |
| Kingdom: |
Animalia |
| Class: | Mammalia the mammals "mammalia" comes from the Latin for "breast") |
| Order: | Primata (from the Latin for "first) |
| Family: | Cebidae (from the Greek for "monkey") |
| Genus: | Aotus (from the Latin for "no ears" because they have very small ears) |
| Species: | Aotus trivirgatus (from the Latin for "three stripes") |
| Why it is way cool! | The douroucouli is a capuchin-like monkey found in many forests of Central
America. It is also known as the Night Monkey or Owl Monkey. They live in
monogamous groups of a male, a female, and young. A young Night monkey will stay
with its family for two and a half years. Night monkeys are the only truly nocturnal monkeys. They differ from most nocturnal mammals by having color vision and this, combined with the structure of their eyes, suggests that their ancestors were recently diurnal To avoid being hunted by diurnal hawks and eagles or being chased by larger monkeys from fruit trees, the Night monkeys have adapted to venturing out punctually fifteen minutes after sunset. Male Night monkeys who are searching for a mate or defending their territory will give a series of 2-4 short hoots. But ONLY when the moon is full and the sky is clear! |
