Three-striped Night Monkey
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| Three-striped Night Monkey Conservation status: Lower risk (lc) | ||||||||||||||
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| Aotus trivirgatus Humboldt, 1811 |
The Three-striped Night Monkey (Aotus trivirgatus), also known as Northern Night Monkey or Northern Owl Monkey, is one of several species of owl monkeys currently recognised. It is found in Venezuela and north-central Brazil.
Until 1983, all the owl monkeys were regarded as subspecies of Aotus trivirgatus, and all were referred to as douroucoulis. The use of the name douroucouli exclusively for the Three-striped Night Monkey is not universally accepted; some authors use it for the entire genus, or for the grey-necked group of species within it (to which A. trivirgatus belongs).
Like other owl monkeys, the Three-striped Night Monkey lives in woodlands including rain forest. Adults are mainly black, with striking white markings on their faces. Their body size is 27-48 cm, and their tails are about the same length again. Adults weigh up to 1 kg. They have very large eyes, and are most active on moonlit nights, feeding on fruit, nuts, leaves, insects and other small invertebrates, and birds' eggs.
Douroucoulis form pair bonds which are broken only by the death of one partner. They live in family groups, with the immature young staying with their parents until sexual maturity at the age of 3 or 4. Normally only one infant is born, after a gestation period of a little over 4 months.nl:Doeroecoeli