Spider monkeys are New World monkeys in the genus Ateles, and they are notably larger than most other monkeys in the region. They use their long thin arms, legs and prehensile tails to swing from tree to tree with a spider-like appearance, which is how they got their name !
These monkeys are native to central and south America, and they live in tropical rainforests. They mostly eat fruit, nuts and seeds, and thereby act as important seed dispersers for many plants. They also eat insects and arachnids, which means they have an omnivorous diet. Due to habitat loss and human activities such as hunting, all seven species of spider monkey are declining, and the brown spider monkey in particular is critically endangered :(
Spider monkeys, like humans, are social creatures that live in communities of around 20-40 individuals. They are known to engage in polygamous sexual behaviours and have sexual segregation with differential roles in foraging for food and parental care. They are very intelligent animals with the ability to communicate using a wide range of vocal sounds, such as barking and screaming !
Interestingly, female spider monkeys have well-developed genitals that are difficult to distinguish from those of males due to the shape, size, and urinary function. This is really cool and it shows how even among primates sexual dimorphism is not as black and white as humans often think it is !
Today is Armenian genocide remembrance day. On april 24, 1915 started mass deportations of hundreds of Armenian intelectuals and community leaders, who were (most of the time) eventually killed. Armenian women and children were systematically r//ed and forcibly converted into islam. There were more than 2 milion Armenians in ottoman empire prior to ww1, 1,5 milion of them were viciously killed. Three millennia of Armenian civilaziation in eastern Anatolis was fully destroyed. Turkey today refuses to acknowledge genocides of christian minorities in early 20th century.
Do you know that mass ethnic cleansing of Armenians in ottoman empire inspired Lemkin to coin the term 'genocide'?
Last year in september azerbaijan allied with turkey initiated a war against Armenia. More that 5000 Armenians were murdered, thousands of Armenia families had to live their ancestrial land to not get murdered. There are hundreds of vids on internet where armenian p.o.w.s are tortured. Recently azerbaijan opened a "museum" displayind dead or dying Armenians and kids were allowed to visit it.
Please educate yourself on Armenian genocide. You can also donate here to help Armenia. Thanks for reading!!