Head to head
Brown Spider Monkey vs Black Spider Monkey
Brown Spider Monkey
VS Black Spider Monkey
The brown spider monkey and black spider monkey are two spider monkeys in the genus Ateles, both slender, long-armed fruit eaters with gripping tails, living in different parts of northern South America.
| Brown Spider Monkey | Black Spider Monkey | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Ateles hybridus | Ateles paniscus |
| Range | Forest in northern Colombia and western Venezuela | Rainforest across the Guiana Shield region of northeastern South America |
| Limbs and tail | Long, slender limbs and a long tail with a bare gripping surface at the tip | Long hook-like fingers with no functional thumbs, and a strongly prehensile tail with a ridged gripping pad |
| Diet | Mainly ripe fruit, along with leaves, flowers, and seeds | Mainly ripe fruit, along with leaves, flowers, and seeds |
| Social life | Lives in large communities that split into smaller foraging parties during the day | Lives in a fission-fusion system in which a community splits into smaller temporary subgroups |
| Seed dispersal | Eats a great deal of fruit and drops the seeds as it travels, helping forests to regrow | Disperses the seeds of many large-fruited rainforest trees as it travels |
| Threats | Loss of most of its forest to farming and ranching, and hunting | Hunting and the clearing and fragmentation of rainforest |
| Conservation status | Critically Endangered, with a decreasing population | Vulnerable, with a decreasing population |
Brown Spider Monkey vs Black Spider Monkey: common questions
Which spider monkey has no thumbs?
The black spider monkey, which has no functional thumbs and grasps branches with long hook-like fingers.
Which spider monkey is more at risk?
The brown spider monkey, which is Critically Endangered after losing most of its original forest, while the black spider monkey is Vulnerable.
Where do the brown and black spider monkeys live?
The brown spider monkey lives in northern Colombia and western Venezuela, while the black spider monkey lives in the Guiana Shield region of northeastern South America.