Guianan Squirrel Monkey

• It eats fruit, insects and the occasional small vertebrate.
• The infant clings to its mother from birth with a prehensile tail, which loses that function in adulthood.
• It can live more than 30 years in captivity.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat & environment

Lowland rainforest of the Amazon basin, in the middle levels of the forest and occasionally in the canopy or on the ground

Birth weight

~107 grams

Size at birth

Able to cling to its mother from birth; the young have a prehensile tail, lost in adulthood

Sexual maturity

Female: 2.5-3.5 years | Male: 4 years

Gestation / incubation

150-170 days (~5-5.5 months)

Litter / clutch size

1 young per birth

Lifespan in captivity

Documented record of up to 30.2 years in captivity

Sources consulted: PMC (ovarian aging study); Dimensions.com; Bright's Zoo; Animal Diversity Web; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); New World Encyclopedia; Monkey Sanctuary; PMC (lymphocyte characterization study)

Best time: All year round, by day, in Amazonia and the Guianas; it moves in large, noisy troops through the understorey and midstorey.