Night monkey

For the persona briefly adopted by Peter Parker in the MCU, see Spider-Man: Far From Home.
For the raccoon relative that shares the same common name, see Ringtail.

Night monkeys[1]
A Panamanian night monkey in Panama
Night monkey calls, recorded in Madre de Dios, Peru
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Parvorder: Platyrrhini
Family: Aotidae
Poche, 1908 (1865)
Genus: Aotus
Illiger, 1811
Type species
Simia trivirgata
Humboldt, 1811
Species

see text

Night monkeys, also known as owl monkeys or douroucoulis[2] (/duːruːˈkuːliz/), are nocturnal New World monkeys of the genus Aotus, the only member of the family Aotidae (/eɪˈɒtɪdiː/). The genus comprises eleven species which are found across Panama and much of South America in primary and secondary forests, tropical rainforests and cloud forests up to 2,400 metres (7,900 ft). Night monkeys have large eyes which improve their vision at night, while their ears are mostly hidden, giving them their name Aotus, meaning "earless".

Night monkeys are the only truly nocturnal monkeys with the exception of some cathemeral populations of Azara's night monkey, who have irregular bursts of activity during day and night. They have a varied repertoire of vocalisations and live in small family groups of a mated pair and their immature offspring. Night monkeys have monochromatic vision which improves their ability to detect visual cues at night.

Night monkeys are threatened by habitat loss, the pet trade, hunting for bushmeat, and by biomedical research. They constitute one of the few monkey species affected by the often deadly human malaria protozoan Plasmodium falciparum and are therefore used as experimental subjects in malaria research. The Peruvian night monkey is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as an Endangered species, while four are Vulnerable species, four are Least-concern species, and two are data deficient.

  1. ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). "Order Primates". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 139–141. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Douroucouli" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 450.