biology

Spix's night monkey

Spix's night 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 Spix's night monkey rather than just read about it. In short: Spix's night monkey (Aotus vociferans), also known as the Colombian gray night monkey, noisy night monkey and Spix's owl monkey, is a night monkey species from South America. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Key takeaways

Spix's night 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 Spix's night monkey to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Spix's night monkey from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Spix's night monkey (Aotus vociferans), also known as the Colombian gray night monkey, noisy night monkey and Spix's owl monkey, is a night monkey species from South America. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The Spix's night monkey is a small bodied monkey species usually having a mass of around one kilogram. It belongs to the only nocturnal genus of New World primates, Aotus. This type of monkey can leap farther than most due to it having longer arms than legs. The monkey averages 0.5 meters in height. The night monkey is considered to be a new world monkey. The social behavior of the Aotus vociferans is group based. These groups usually consist of breeding pairs and their offspring. This species has a monogamous mating system. After the offspring are born, the father becomes the main caretaker, only giving up the offspring for them to suckle. The offspring will usually stay with their birth group until they reach two and a half to three and a half years old. An exception to this if the male breeding partner is no longer present for any reason (usually only caused by death), then the offspring may stay with its birth group for only twelve weeks to the normal departure age. Social grooming in this species of monkey is uncommon. The Aotus vociferans reproduce usually by giving birth to one offspring. Although, like with humans, there are cases of twins. The female breeding partner carries the offspring in interbirth for around one year. Both mating and birthing occur between November and January. For this species, copulation attempts tend to be short and quick, starting with the male and female approaching one another. Then the male performs a social sniff. During the original sniff, the female may reciprocate but not always. Sexual intercourse usually consists of only three to four thrusts by the male with him ejaculating on the final thrust. This species moves through the forest by swinging between horizontal branches and uses all four limbs to grab branches. They may also leap from tree to tree. This species communicates through voice, sight, smell, and touch. Vocally, this monkey has different sounds for different situations. To startle a potential predator the night monkey will "scream," emitting a high pitched shriek. These monkeys use social sniffing to assess potential breeding partners. They will also urinate on their hands and then rub it on different surfaces to show sexual attraction. Aggressive males will usually arch their backs with all of their limbs straightened. When in the presence of a predator the night monkey will sway from side to side to try and deter the predator. A rejection bite is used as tactile communication between mother and offspring after suckling or after around one week old when contact is not welcome. Father and offspring also use a rejection bite when the offspring reaches around 8 weeks when contact is not welcome.

References

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Spix's night monkey

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Spix's night 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 Spix's night 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 Spix's night 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 Spix's night monkey

In research: Spix's night 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 Spix's night 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: Spix's night monkey is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Arboreal mammals, IUCN Red List least concern species, Mammals described in 1823, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Spix's night 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 Spix's night monkey in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Spix's night 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 Spix's night monkey out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spix's night monkey in simple terms?

Why does Spix's night 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 Spix's night 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 Spix's night monkey.