The Woolly Monkey: Behavior, Ecology, Systematics, and Captive Research [Paperback]

Woolly monkeys are large, attractive and widespread primates found throughout many parts of the Amazon basin. It is only in the last twenty-five years or so that long-term studies of woollies in their forest habitat have been successful; they have not generally been successfully kept in captivity. But now, especially because of their size, these creatures are pressed on all sides by bush meat hunters and forest fragmentation. Their future is becoming critically precarious and the editors feel that it is time to showcase these animals with a full book.

The editors draw together a number of recent woolly monkey studies from three Amazonian countries, including five taxa of woolly monkeys, four of which have recently been reclassified without using new biological criteria as species rather than subspecies (Groves, 2001, 2005; Rylands & Mittermeier, 2009). This volume provides a diversity of studies by well-known researchers and advanced students on a wide range of subjects using newly generated data, including a criticism of the recent taxonomic changes. The varied information contained within The Woolly Monkey: Behavior, Ecology, Systematics and Captive Research will help readers understand these handsome animals and will, we hope, energize them to contribute to their conservation.

Part I: Introduction.- Chapter 1. Introduction: Studying Woolly Monkeys.- Part II: Systematics and Taxonomy.- Chapter 2. Coat Color is not an Indicator of Subspecies Identity in Colombian Woolly Monkeys.- Chapter 3. Colombian Lagothrix: Analysis of their Phenotypes and Taxonomy.- Part III: Ex Situ Research.- Chapter 4. Behavior and Husbandry of a Captive Group of Woolly Monkeys: A Case Study.- Chapter 5. Clinical Experience and Diseases of the Woolly Monkey.- Chapter 6. Recent Advances in Woolly Monkey Nutrition.- Chapter 7. Effects of Housing Conditions and Diet on the Behavior of Captive Woolly Monkeys.- Part IV. In SlW