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Table of Contents
Howler monkeys can be found in forests across South and Central America and are among the largest monkeys in the New World. With their incredible howling ability, hence their name, they are known as the loudest animal in the world as they can be heard from three miles (up to 5km) away.
See the fact file below for more information on the Howler Monkey, or you can download our 29-page Howler Monkey worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
OVERVIEW
- Howler monkeys are among the largest monkeys in the New World. They also belong to the few nest-building species. Over fifteen species and seven subspecies are currently recognized. They belong to the family Atelidae or the generally larger monkeys.
- Native to Central and South America, they live high above the ground in the canopies of forests. They prefer to move as a group and search for the best food resources in teams. With their ability to produce a loud howl, they are labeled the loudest animal worldwide.
CHARACTERISTICS
- Belonging to the New World monkeys and being the largest species, howler monkeys also have wide side-set nostrils and furred prehensile tails with naked tips that help these primates grip firmly on tree branches. They have beards and long, thick hair in shades of black, brown, or red, depending on sex and species.
- The monkeys are sexually dimorphic, or there are differences in size, coloration, or body structure between the sexes. Males are heavier than females by 3 to 5 pounds. In some species of howler monkey, such as the black howler monkey, mature males and females have different fur or coat colors.
- Howler monkeys are the most prominent New World monkeys, with head and body lengths averaging 22 to 36 inches. One of the distinct characteristics of their clan is its extremely long and thick tail. It was measured that the average tail length varies from 23 to 36 inches, but there are howler monkeys with tails five times their body length. Adults monkey weigh between 15 and 22 pounds.
- Howlers also have camera-like eyes, like humans or what is called trichromatic vision. Both female and male howler monkeys have an enlarged hyoid bone or what men also have — Adam’s apple that helps them make their famous loud howls or calls.
- How do we identify them among the New World monkeys? Howler monkeys have a hunched appearance. Their species has evolved independently from other monkeys in the New World due to gene duplication. The howlers have 15 to 20 years of lifespan. Though they are dimorphic, their species can also be dichromatic.
- A significant characteristic of howler monkeys is the enlarged hyoid bone (a horseshoe-shaped bone located in the anterior midline of the neck) that expands into a sizeable shell-like organ in the throat, which gives their howl or voice exceptional resonance. Like humans, they also have five fingers that provide the perfect grip as they climb trees. The first two are opposable to the other three fingers.
- Howler monkeys also have many teeth, 36 to be exact. Their dental formula is (Incisors) 2/2, (Canines) 1/1, (Premolars) 3/3, (Molars) 3/3. Their sharp upper molar teeth have shearing crests, which they use for grinding leaves which is their primary food.
LOCATION AND SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
- About 100,000 howlers of all subspecies remain in the wild, found and native in the forests of Central and South America. Among the rainforests of southern Mexico to northern Argentina, howlers are typically found in various forest types, from Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, etc.
- The howler monkey’s scientific name is Alouatta. This word is a New Latin and French masculine noun. It means, “Tropical American howling monkey with a tail used for swinging through trees and eating fruit.” There are 15 acknowledged species of howler monkeys.
Common Name: | Howler Monkey |
Scientific Name: | Alouatta |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Family: | Atelidae |
Subfamily: | Allouttinae |
BEHAVIOR AND REPRODUCTION
- As its name suggests, vocal communication is essential to the howler’s social behavior. Their enlarged basihyal or hyoid bone helps them create their well-known loud vocalizations and howls. The howler monkeys are considered the most vociferous among the other species in Old World and New World monkeys.
- They make a low and deep guttural howl that can travel up to three miles. Their sound ranges between 128dB and 140dB, which serves as an alert to their members. Male monkeys produce louder sounds than females. At dusk and dawn, the howls of male monkeys calling for their troop can often be heard. Howling is believed to relate to intergroup spacing and territory protection, as well as possibly to mate-guarding. They are also arboreal and rarely come down to the forest floor. Howlers are social animals that live in troops, commonly ranging from 3-20 individuals.
- Howler monkeys don’t reproduce seasonally; they perform a ritual and display sexual readiness by tongue-flicking. The howlers mate throughout the year, and the females give birth every two years and only have one baby at a time. The gestation period lasts six months, and they care for their babies for about a year. Young howlers must find their troop once they’ve reached the age that requires them to leave the group and explore independently.
HABITAT AND DIET
- Howler monkeys live freely in tropical forests and rainforests of South and Central America. The howlers generally move quadrupedally on the tops of branches and spend their lives in the tree canopy, rarely touching and descending to the forest floor. Their prehensile solid tails can support their entire body weight as they grasp a branch and move from one place to another.
- The monkeys play a significant role in their habitat ecosystem. Their ecological role benefits other species. When howlers live in a forest, numerous birds do too. Trees produce more fruits and leaves when howlers feed on them. With more of these for each tree, more insects follow. The bounty of these tiny creatures can feed more birds. The monkeys cause the dispersal of seeds in the forests.
- Howlers have highly sensitive noses that help search for their food. They forage on leaves primarily from the upper canopy of trees, but flowers, nuts, buds, and fruits are also part of their diet. Sometimes, eggs also supplement their feeding. They are folivores, and the threat with this is the toxins that some leaves contain, which can poison the howlers when consumed.
THREAT
- Howler species also face multiple threats like other New World monkeys. They are often hunted for food. Their natural predators are harpy eagles, jaguars, and pumas if they’re on forest grounds. Giant snakes can also be one of their hunters, and diseases are also a threat to their survival. There are also cases where an adult male kills the infant to prevent the troop from becoming too large.
- But the major threat comes from deforestation and the loss of habitat. Their main predator is humans, hunting them for fur and meat. People demolish their habitat and knock down trees to build houses or sell wood. Numerous people from Central and South America love to eat howler meat. Humans also captured howlers to put in zoos and as household pets. Many monkeys die in captivity. Howler monkeys are not usually aggressive; however, they do not do well as pets due to their loud vocalizations.
- But in some Mayan tribes, to the Mayas of the Classical period, they were worshipped as gods. They are often depicted in sculptures as the gods featured in the myth of the Maya Hero Twins. Copán is famous for its representations of howler monkey gods, and the species was worshipped for the beauty of its long, sleek tail.
Howler Monkey Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Howler Monkey across 29 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Howler Monkey, which is known as the loudest animal in the world as they can be heard from three miles (up to 5km) away.
Complete List of Included Worksheets
Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.
- Howler Monkey Facts
- Hello, Howler!
- Between the Two
- Howl you know?
- The Troop
- Howl you ready?
- Howl you feel?
- Letter Maze
- Howler’s Role
- We’re the Howlers
- Howl Informative!
Frequently Asked Questions
How loud is a howler monkey?
Some of the loudest animals in the world are black howler monkeys. You can hear their loud roars from up to three miles away. Their roars are as loud as 140 decibels.
Are howler monkeys rare?
The howler monkey is almost gone from where it lives because people hunt them and chop down the trees they live in. These monkeys need a lot of space to live and cannot survive in captivity. This means that they are becoming rarer as we see more trees being chopped down.
Are howler monkeys aggressive?
Although they are known for their deafening cries, howler monkeys are gentle by nature.
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Link will appear as Howler Monkey Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 10, 2022
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.