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Owl monkeys are unique. While most of the prosimians (the more primitive primates) are nocturnal, owl monkeys are the only nocturnal anthropoid (monkeys and apes). They are arboreal (live in trees) new world primates and have a wide geographic distribution from the forests of Panama to northern Argentina.
Owl monkeys belong to the genus Aotus and there are several different types of owl monkey. Currently taxonomists believe there are at least eight species.
We have the great privilege to care for a little over 50 owl monkeys at the DuMond Conservancy. Our owl monkeys either live in Owl Monkeys at the DuMond Conservancy pairs or small families in a secluded naturally forested area with vegetation screening their enclosures. At dusk the woods become alive with the sounds of owl monkey vocalizations that include contented purrs as they sample their first meal of the evening and amazing resonant whoops if they hear an unfamiliar sound. We feed out owl monkeys a varied diet of specially prepared biscuits and mixed fruits, vegetables and leafy greens. The moneys also spend a lot of time foraging for insects that enter their enclosures. In nature owl monkeys eat fruit, leaves, insects and flowers. We have planted near the owl monkey enclosures the trees that produce the pink flowers that they love so much in Argentina. On clear nights when the moon is full, the monkeys make loud hooting sounds and are much more active than on darker nights.
Zito, M., Evans, S. and Welson, P. (2003). Owl Monkeys (Aotus spp.) self-anoint with plants and millipedes. Folia Primatologica 74(3),159-161.Owl Monkey Research
Food transfers to young and mates in wild owl monkeys (aotus azarai)
Wolovich CK, Perea-Rodriguez JP and Fernandez-Duque E (2008). Food transfers to young and mates in wild owl monkeys (aotus azarai). American Journal of Primatology 70(3): 211-221
Food transfers to young and mates in wild owl monkeys (Aotus azarai)
Christy Kaitlyn Wolovich 1,2, Juan Pablo Perea-Rodriguez 2 , Eduardo Fernandez-Duque 3,4
1Department of Biology, University of Miami, Miami, Florida
2DuMond Conservancy for Primates and Tropical Forests, Inc., Miami, Florida
3Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
4Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral, Conicet, Argentina
email: Christy Kaitlyn Wolovich (c.wolovich@bucknell.edu)
*Correspondence to Christy Kaitlyn Wolovich, Department of Biology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837
Funded by:
National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship
Wenner-Gren Foundation
L.S.B. Leakey Foundation
National Geographic Society and the Zoological Society of San Diego
Keywords
food sharing • mate-guarding • monogamy • pair bond • paternal care
Abstract
Accounts of food sharing within natural populations of mammals have focused on transfers to offspring or transfers of food items that are difficult to obtain (such as meat). Five groups of socially monogamous owl monkeys (Aotus azarai azarai) in Formosa, Argentina were observed during 107 hr to determine the pattern of food sharing under natural conditions. There were a total of 42 social interactions involving food with food being transferred on eight occasions. Adult males transferred food to young more often than did adult females. All types of food that were readily obtained and eaten by all age/sex classes were transferred to young. Adult females also transferred food to their mates. This type of food sharing is very rare among animals and may have social benefits specific to monogamous mammals with paternal care. Am. J. Primatol. 70:211-221, 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Received: 1 December 2006; Revised: 12 August 2007; Accepted: 14 August 2007
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1002/ajp.20477 About DOI
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