The muriqui can weigh up to 15 kg (33 lb). Found in the remnants of the Atlantic coastal forest in Brazil, the muriqui is arboreal and diurnal and eats mostly leaves, fruit and flowers. It is able to utilize secondary as well as primary forest.
Troops of muriquis have been observed to include from 8 - 43 individuals. They generally contain approximately equal numbers of adult males and adult females. Immature females emigrate from the troop in which they were born in search of a neighboring troop to join. Males remain with their natal troop and reproduce there. There is very little aggression among group members and they are not territorial. A single young is usually born during the dry season (May - September).
Prior to the European colonization of South America, the muriqui is estimated to have numbered 400,000. It had decreased to 3000 by 1971 and to less than 1000 as of 1997. It has declined due to hunting for food by local natives and to clearing of forests for agriculture and human habitation (more than 95% of the original Atlantic coastal forest has been eliminated).
Tidbits
*** The muriqui is one of the world's rarest mammals.
*** It is the largest South American primate.
*** The name "muriqui" comes from the Tupi Indians.
*** The two distinct subspecies, Brachyteles arachnoides arachnoides and B. a. hypoxanthus (which some authorities consider to be full species, B. arachnoides and B. hypoxanthus) differ in that B. a. arachnoides has a small but still obvious thumb, whereas B. a. hypoxanthus has no thumb at all (Nowak 1999).
source:
http://www.animalinfo.org/species/primate/bracarac.htm#profile
cellomould
"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ