White-cheeked spider monkey

The white-cheeked spider monkey (Ateles marginatus) is a species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, endemic to Brazil. It moves around the forest canopy in small family groups of two to four, part of larger groups of a few dozen animals, and its home is the upper levels of the rain forest. It feeds on leaves, flowers, fruits, bark, honey and small insects and is an important means of seed dispersal for forest trees. Females give birth after a 230-day gestation period. It is commonly found in the Brazilian Amazon, and part of its territory lies within national forests such as Tapajós, Xingu, Altamira and Itaituba. Its population is decreasing as forest habitat is lost to soybean production, deforestation and road construction and as it is hunted for food, and the IUCN assesses it as endangered.