It feeds on fruit and insects (grasshoppers, mantises and larvae), as well as small vertebrates such as frogs and lizards, so it spends much of its time foraging and eating. It can explore up to one and a half hectares of its environment per day.
Identity card
Common squirrel monkey
- Scientific name:
- Saimiri sciureus
- Family:
- Cebidae
- Class:
- Mammal
- Phylum:
- Chordata
- Year of description:
- Linnaeus, 1758
- IUCN Status:
- Least Concern
- CITES-status:
Not evaluated
- Distribution:
-
North-western Central America, including the southern part of the island of Costa Rica, and across the Amazon basin east of the Andes from Colombia to Brazil.
- Habitat:
-
It lives from sea level up to an altitude of 2,000 metres.
- Size:
23 to 37 cm (tail length 37 to 46 cm).
- Diet:
-
Insects, fruits, molluscs and small invertebrates.
- Longevity:
15 years.
