The Muriqui

The muriqui, or woolly spider monkey, occurs in the Atlantic forest of Southeast Brazil and is both the largest endemic Brazilian mammal and Neotropical primate species.

Muriqui, an Amerindian Tupi name, is one of the most popular names for the Brachyteles genus. ‘Brachyteles’ refers to brachiating, a specialization that allows certain primates to use the hand as the main support of locomotion. ‘arachnoides’ means “spider” in the Greek language.

The Primate genus belongs to the Atelinae family, which comprises of Ateles (spider monkeys), Lagothrix (woolly monkeys) and Alouatta (howler monkeys). The Brachyteles genus was first described in 1806, but was only documented in the wild in 1962.

 

The Muriqui is stamped at the logomarca of the Biosphere Reserves of the Atlantic forest