Common Squirrel Monkey
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[Photo] Common squirrel monkey Saimiri sciureus at Bristol Zoo, Bristol, England. Photographed by Adrian Pingstone (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Arpingstone) in May 2005 and released to the public domain.

The Common Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus) is a small New World primate from the Cebidae family, and native to ten different countries of South America: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

It lives in very large groups, up to 300 individuals, on moist tropical forests, and usually forages in the medium and lower levels of the forest and sleeps close to the canopy. The females are the dominant members of the group.

It is a very agile monkey, with a high metabolic rate, and although an omnivorous animal, it feeds primarily on insects and other invertebrates. It also feeds on fruits, seeds and other plant parts.

It is common to see these squirrel monkeys in mixed groups, moving along with other primate species and birds.

There are four subspecies of Saimiri sciureus:

Saimiri sciureus sciureus
Saimiri sciureus albigena
Humboldt's Squirrel Monkey, Saimiri sciureus cassiquiarensis
Ecuadorian Squirrel Monkey, Saimiri sciureus macrodon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Squirrel_Monkey

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