Although no published research pertaining specifically to the eating habits of the Azuero spider monkey exists, spider monkeys in general are frugivores. They dedicate anywhere from 55 to 90% of feeding time to fruit, but also eat plant parts such as leaves, flowers, seeds, and aerial roots. Although they feed on a diverse variety of taxa, they are specialists in that they feed on ripe fruit, which is easy to penetrate, thus necessitating a wide species foraging range due to their reliance on seasonally fruiting resources. Their ability to swallow fruits with large seeds rich in lipids enables dispersal of plant species that are rarely dispersed by other species. In addition to the primary influence of fruit availability, the location of water resources, sleeping sites, climatic extremes, and patrolling of range boundaries are all factors that influence spider monkey species ranges. Published research on other spider monkey subspecies suggests that their home range requires anywhere from 95-390 ha in continuous forest. These numbers remain unconfirmed for the Azuero spider monkey subspecies.
Distribution/ Habitat Fragmentation
The Azuero spider monkey can mainly be found in the southern areas of the Azuero Peninsula, due to them disappearing mostly from the northern peninsula. This includes areas such as the Cerro Hoya National Park, La Tronosa Forest Reserve, and some parts of the Mariato District
Behaviour
The Azuero spider monkey, much like other spider monkeys, are animals that are highly intelligent and playful. Like many other species of spider monkeys, they live in large groups together. Azuero spider monkeys also display a dynamic called the fission-fusion dynamic; a social system where a group of animals dissolve into smaller groups and overtime, begin to regroup with each other.
The Azuero spider monkey is also an incredibly agile and dexterous. They use the forest trees to climb, travel, and feed. They are adept at traversing the jungle due to their prehensile tail, which acts almost like another limb for the monkey.
Azuero spider monkeys also communicate via body movements and vocalizations.
Threats to survival
Due to the highly reduced and fragmented nature of the tropical dry forest habitat that originally covered nearly the entire Azuero peninsula, forest remnants large enough to support Azuero spider monkey populations are rare. This deforestation and the hunting of individuals make up the two most influential factors threatening the survival of Azuero spider monkey populations.
It has been stated that the Azuero spider monkey has a recorded 65 individuals across 9 different groups in a study conducted between September 2017 and February 2020 This makes them one of the most critically endangered spider monkeys in the world, right after the brown spider monkey and the brown-headed spider monkey.
Research
The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund has provided funding for research on the Azuero spider monkey. This research is looking into aspects of what the Azuero spider monkey eats, what constitutes a corridor, and how spider monkeys are key indicators of forest health.
↑Di Fiore, A.; Link, A.; Dew, J.L. (2008). "Diets of wild spider monkeys". In Campbell, CJ (ed.). Spider monkeys: behavior, ecology and evolution of the genus Ateles. pp.81–137.
123Wallace, R.B. (2008). "Factors influencing spider monkey habitat use and ranging patterns". In Campbell, CJ (ed.). Spider Monkeys: Behavior, Ecology and Evolution of the Genus Ateles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.138–154.
↑Dew, J.L. (2008). "Spider monkeys as seed dispersers". In Campbell CJ (ed.). Spider monkeys: behavior, ecology and evolution of the genus Ateles. pp.155–182.
