biology

Guianan squirrel monkey

Guianan squirrel monkey is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Guianan squirrel monkey rather than just read about it. In short: The Guianan squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) is a species of squirrel monkey from Guiana, Venezuela and Brazil. S. sciureus formerly applied to Humboldt's squirrel monkey and Collins' squirrel monkey, but genetic research in 2009 and 2015 revealed that these are distinct species.

Key takeaways

Guianan squirrel monkey belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Guianan squirrel monkey to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Guianan squirrel monkey from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Guianan squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) is a species of squirrel monkey from Guiana, Venezuela and Brazil. S. sciureus formerly applied to Humboldt's squirrel monkey and Collins' squirrel monkey, but genetic research in 2009 and 2015 revealed that these are distinct species.

Taxonomy Several now-separate squirrel monkey species were formerly considered a single species, Saimiri sciureus, generally known as the common squirrel monkey, with a wide range in the northern half of South America. A 2009 genetic study by Carretero-Pinzón, et al indicated Humboldt's squirrel monkey, S. cassiquiarensis, from Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, which had been considered a subspecies of S. sciureus, was actually more closely related to other squirrel monkey species. A 2015 genetic study by Lynch Alfaro, et al revealed that Collins' squirrel monkey, S. collinsi, from northeastern Brazil, which had also been considered a subspecies of S. sciureus, should also be treated as a separate species. This left S. sciureus to apply to the squirrel monkeys in northern Brazil and the Guianas. Lynch Alfaro's study also revealed that despite the gap in their ranges, the squirrel monkey species most closely related to the Guianan squirrel monkey is the Central American squirrel monkey of Costa Rica and Panama.

Description Guianan squirrel monkey males have a body between 25 and 37 centimetres (9.8 and 14.6 in) long with a tail between 36 and 40 centimetres (14 and 16 in) long. Females have a body between 25 and 34 centimetres (9.8 and 13.4 in) long with a tail between 36 and 47 centimetres (14 and 19 in) long. Males weigh between 550 and 1,400 grams (19 and 49 oz) and females weigh between 550 and 1,200 grams (19 and 42 oz). The Guianan squirrel monkey has a pink face, black muzzle and white arches over the eyes. The crown of its head is olive or olive gray. The fur on its back can vary in color among gray, olive or orange, but the belly is white and the arms are yellow-orange.

Behavior The Guianan squirrel monkey often feeds and moves in mixed species groups with capuchin monkeys. It also associates with the red-backed bearded saki. Hybrids with the bare-eared squirrel monkey are known to occur along the boundaries of their ranges. The Guianan squirrel monkey's diet includes insects, seeds, fruit, young leaves, flowers, gum, shoots, nectar, spiders, lizards and bird eggs. On at least one occasion one was seen eating a bat, although it does not appear to hunt bats as often as the related Central American squirrel monkey. Breeding is typically synchronized within each group. Males gain weight in the upper portion of their bodies and become more aggressive prior to mating season. Females do not appear to initiate mating. Gestation period is about 5 months, and all infants within a group are typically born within one week of each other during January or February. Males provide no parental care, but non-maternal females provide some alloparental care. Infants have slightly prehensile tails and are weaned at about 6 months. Females are sexually mature at about 2 1/2 years, and males are fully mature at 4 or 5 years. Guianan squirrel monkeys can live more than 20 years.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Guianan squirrel monkey

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Guianan squirrel monkey claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Guianan squirrel monkey before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Guianan squirrel monkey ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Guianan squirrel monkey

In research: Guianan squirrel monkey appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Guianan squirrel monkey in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Guianan squirrel monkey is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus, Arboreal mammals, IUCN Red List least concern species, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Guianan squirrel monkey outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Guianan squirrel monkey in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Guianan squirrel monkey means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Guianan squirrel monkey out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Guianan squirrel monkey in simple terms?

Why does Guianan squirrel monkey matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Guianan squirrel monkey?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Guianan squirrel monkey.