Favorite Images of Owl Monkeys

A list of my favorite images of owl monkeys.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_monkey

Owl monkeys, also known as night monkeys or douroucoulis, are the members of the genus Aotus of New World monkeys (monotypic in family Aotidae).

The only nocturnal monkeys, they are native to Panama and much of tropical South America.

Owl monkeys constitute one of the few monkey species that are affected by the often deadly human malaria protozoan Plasmodium falciparum, making them useful as non-human primate experimental subjects in malaria research.

Owl monkeys have large brown eyes; the size improves their nocturnal vision increasing their ability to be active at night. They are sometimes said to lack a tapetum lucidum, the reflective layer behind the retina possessed by many nocturnal animals. Other sources say they have a tapetum lucidum composed of collagen fibrils.

At any rate, night monkeys lack the tapetum lucidum composed of riboflavin crystals possessed by lemurs and other strepsirrhines, which is an indication that their nocturnalitiy is a secondary adaption evolved from ancestral diurnal primates.

Their ears are rather difficult to see; this is why their genus name, Aotus (meaning "earless") was chosen. There is little data on the weights of wild owl monkeys.

From the figures that have been collected, it appears that males and females are similar in weight; the heaviest species is Azara's night monkey at around 1,254 grams (2.765 lb), and the lightest is Brumback's night monkey, which weighs between 455 and 875 grams (1.003 and 1.929 lb). The male is slightly taller than the female, measuring 346 and 341 millimetres (13.6 and 13.4 in), respectively.

Owl monkeys can be found in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela.

The species that live at higher elevations tend to have thicker fur than the monkeys at sea level. Owl monkeys can live in forests undisturbed by humans (primary forest) as well as in forests that are recovering from human logging efforts (secondary forest).