Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
Aotus lemurinus populations have suffered due to collection for biomedical research and some hunting.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable
Aotus lemurinus is commonly used in biomedical research.
Aotus lemurinus feeds at night, where they typically feed in the canopy. Their diet is broad, including fruit, flower nectar, foliage, and insects. These monkeys have also been known to feed on small birds and mammals.
Animal Foods: birds; mammals; insects
Plant Foods: leaves; fruit; nectar
Primary Diet: omnivore
Aotus lemurinus , commonly known as the owl monkey or night monkey, is found in Central and South America. They occur from Panama to northeastern Argentina, and from Peru and Equador to Guyana and Brazil.
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )
Owl monkeys occupy a variety of habitats. They are found from moist rainforest to dry scrub. Aotus lemurinus is most common in dense forest, where many vines are present. They can be found in all levels of the forest but are rarely found on the ground.
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 33.8 (high) years.
Aotus lemurinus can be recognized by its small rounded head and owl-like face. Their brown eyes are large and round. Their thick white eyebrows lie below three black stripes on their head. A large black spot is found between their eyes. The eyeshine from these nocturnal monkeys is a bright reddish orange. Fur is dense and wooly and is usually grey in color. The color of the underparts of the monkey ranges from a pale yellow to a bright orange. Their tail is non-prehensile and mostly black, but may have brown or dark orange coloring on it. The tail always has a black tip. Their fingers are long and slender, with expanded pads on the tips. This monkey exhibits no sexual dimorphism. Weight ranges from 0.5 to 1.3 kg.
Range mass: 0.5 to 1.3 kg.
Average mass: 0.0009 kg.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Aotus lemurinus is a monogamous mammal.
Mating System: monogamous
Aotus lemurinus reaches sexual maturity at approximately 2.5 years of age. Females have an ovarian cycle which ranges from 13 to 19 days. There is no external indication of estrous. Males initiate reproduction. Reciprocal grooming has been observed in this species only prior to mating. Gestation period is 133 days. Females give birth to single young or sometimes twins.
Range number of offspring: 1 to 2.
Average gestation period: 133 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 2.5 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 2.5 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Average birth mass: 98 g.
Average gestation period: 135 days.
Average number of offspring: 1.
The male and female both care for the young.
Parental Investment: precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Male, Female)
The gray-bellied night monkey (Aotus lemurinus), also called the grey-legged douroucouli[3] or lemurine owl monkey, is a small New World monkey of the family Aotidae. Native to tropical and subtropical forests of South America,[4] the gray-bellied night monkey faces a significant threat from hunting, harvesting for use in pharmaceutical research and habitat destruction.
There have been up to four subspecies of the gray-bellied night monkey.[1] All but the nominate subspecies have been elevated to full species rank.[5] The three species formally considered subspecies are:
Additionally, Hershkovitz's night monkey Aotus hershkovitzi is now considered to be a junior synonym for A. lemurinus.[5]
Like other members of their genus, this species is nocturnal; its small, round head is striped with black and is dominated by two large, brown eyes. The overall effect is not unlike an owl; the monkey's eyes shine a reddish orange by reflected light. Its white eyebrows are bushy, with a patch of darker fur between them. Its grey fur is described as dense and woolly, with the animal's underside being yellow to orange in colour. Its brownish black to orange tail is not prehensile and invariably tipped with black.
The gray-bellied night monkey has slender limbs with long, delicate fingers; its fingertip pads are wide. Adults may attain a weight of 1.3 kilograms; there is no sexual dimorphism observed.
Found in both dry and moist areas, the gray-bellied night monkey occupies all levels of the forest canopy; however, it is seldom found on the ground. It prefers dense vegetation with tangles of vines where the trees are evenly dispersed. Its range is from Colombia and north-eastern Argentina to Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama; it is also found in the tropical Andes.
By day the monkey slumbers in the cavities of trees or in dense thickets; by night, it searches the canopy for a variety of food items. Primarily a frugivore (fruit-eating), this monkey also eats vegetation, insects, nectar, and even other small mammals and birds when fruit is scarce.
Most active during twilight hours and periods of bright moonlight, the gray-bellied night monkey troop consists of a mated pair and their offspring, up to five individuals in total. This species is noted for the monogamous pair-bond it forms; parental duties are shared between the lead pair and the juveniles. However, it is the male who assumes the bulk of care giving and rearing responsibilities; the female serves only to nurse the infants. Remarkably, even if the male dies the female will refuse to take over from him.
Characteristically vociferous, the monkey produces a range of calls: from soft clicks and low-pitched guttural rumblings to owl-like hoots and high-pitched shrieks when threatened. When not feeding, the monkey is typically inactive. Like other members of its genus, the gray-bellied night monkey claims a relatively small territory of about 0.1 km². Scent is central to this monkey's intraspecies communication; territories are marked with brown, oily secretions from the base of the tail.
Birthing peaks at the end of the dry season and in the midst of the wet season. Gestation averages 133 days, usually resulting in a single infant; twins are a rarity. There is only one litter per year. Sexual maturity is reached at 2.5 to 3.5 years of age, at which point the offspring disperse; that is, they leave the troop in search of an unattached mate.
The gray-bellied night monkey (Aotus lemurinus), also called the grey-legged douroucouli or lemurine owl monkey, is a small New World monkey of the family Aotidae. Native to tropical and subtropical forests of South America, the gray-bellied night monkey faces a significant threat from hunting, harvesting for use in pharmaceutical research and habitat destruction.
