The Golden Spider Monkey is a new world monkey. They are small ranging in length from 15 to 25 inches with a 20 to 35 inch long tail. Golden Spider Monkeys have light to dark brown fur with white markings on their faces. They have dark brown fur on their feet and hands.

Scientific Name: Ateles Geoffroyi.

Habitat: They live in the trees in lowland and tropical rain forests. Their range includes Central American and South Mexico.

Diet: They eat mainly fruits, nuts, and leaves. They supplement this diet with occasional insects and bird eggs.

Social Organization: They live in groups that range from 2-40 members. Females take the lead in the organization of the groups. Most of the group's activities revolve around gathering food. While they patrol their territory and avoid the territory of others, they rarely fight if confronted with another group. The membership in these groups is very fluid, with sub-groups breaking off and forming together.

Wacky Trivia: Lacking thumbs, they don't groom one another. Instead they just scratch away bugs and parasites. Apparently, zoos have something they feed monkeys called "monkey chow".

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