The white-bellied spider monkey[1] (Ateles belzebuth), also called the long-haired or white-fronted spider monkey, is an endangered species of spider monkey, a species of New-World monkey.
- It is found in the northwestern Amazon in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru, extending south to the lower Ucayali River and east to the Branco.
- The limbs of white-bellied spider monkeys are long, muscular, and very strong. In addition, its shoulders are such that its arms can fully rotate.
- The elbows allow the forearms to pronate, and the large carpal tendons make their wrists extremely flexible.
- Its hands are long, thin, and thumbless. Instead, their four long fingers form a perfect hook to help them swing on branches.
- Its torso is short. All of these characteristics perfectly match this monkey’s supportive mode of locomotion.
- Its long, muscular tail is broad at the base, thin at the tip, and can bend, twist, and curl. It’s prehensile and tactile.
- The underside is bare with ridges like those found on the undersides of the feet and hands. They have a narrow face with a tiny chin, narrow snout, and large sockets in which almond-shaped brown eyes are fixed.
- The skull is round, and its ears are similar to ours. White-bellied spider monkeys, which live in lowland forests, have blackish fur on their backs and front legs and creamy-yellow fur on their abdomens; those from mountain forests have a greater variety of colors.
