Aotus zonalis Goldman 1914
Creators: name: Russell A. Mittermeier
name: Anthony B. Rylands
name: Don E. Wilson
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Aotidae
Aotus
Aotus zonalis

description: 3. Panamanian Night Monkey Aotus zonalis
French: Douroucouli du Panama / German: Panama-Nachtaffe / Spanish: Mico nocturno de Panama Other common names: Chocd Owl Monkey
Taxonomy. Aotus zonalis Goldman, 1914,
Panama, Gatun, Canal Zone.
J. Hernandez-Camacho and R. Cooper in 1976 and C. P. Groves in 2001 recognized this form as a subspecies of A. lemurinus, but T. Defler and M. Bueno argued that night monkeys from Panama and the Choco in Colombia are a separate species, A. zonalis. Monotypic.
Distribution. NW Colombia in the Pacific lowlands (E to the Sinu Valley, S towards the Ecuadorian border, and N into Cordoba Department, perhaps as far as Valdivia where it would overlap with the Gray-legged Night Monkey, A. griseimembra), and most of Panama (along the Pacific coast W to the Rio San Pedro in Veraguas and on the Atlantic side W as far as the Rio Changuinola in Bocas del Toro); it is absent from SW Panama (Chiriqui), and its occurrence in SE Costa Rica is uncertain.
Descriptive notes. Head—body ¢.30 cm, tail ¢.36 cm; weight 889 g (males, n = 6) and 916 g (females, n = 11). The Panamanian Night Monkey is a gray-necked species with a diploid chromosome number of 55-56. Body color is brownish in the Canal Zone and Colombia, but it grades into paler and grayer tones along the upper Rio Tuira, eastern Panama. Hair is short and adpressed. The Panamanian Night Monkey is similar to the Gray-legged Night Monkey, exceptfor its dark brown or blackish hands and feet.
Habitat. Lowland forest, up to elevations of 650 m. On Barro Colorado Island, Panama, they usually move and feed at heights of 7 m in the lower canopy and up to 30 m in highest parts of the forest canopy. Panamanian Night Monkeys have not been seen traveling on the ground.
Food and Feeding. Based on an analysis of stomach contents, the Panamanian Night Monkey eats fruits (65%), leaves (30%), and insects (5%) %), based on the stomach contents.
Breeding. Night monkeys are socially monogamous, living in small groups of an adult pair and their offspring and sometimes a subadult. Similar to studies of other species of captive Aotus, captive and wild Panamanian Night Monkeys on the island of Barro Colorado, mate infrequently; it is rapid, and inconspicuous, lacking any evident soliciting behaviors or postures. The newborn is carried by the mother for the first week or so, but then it is transferred to the father, who subsequently carries it most of the time, returning it to the mother only for suckling.
Activity patterns. The Panamanian Night Monkey is nocturnal and arboreal. A radiotracking study of a young male followed for nine nights on Barro Colorado indicated two peaks of activity during the night. It became active at dusk (17:00-18:15 h), remaining active with gradually increasing periods of inactivity until about midnight when it would rest for 1-2 hours and then start feeding and foraging until dawn;it returned to its daytime nest at ¢.06:00 h.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Panamanian Night Monkey lives in family groups of 4-5 individuals. Groups are territorial and meet rarely. When they do meet at a fruiting tree, for example, they are quite aggressive. Following a slow approach, they leap at the opponent, hitting and attempting to bite it. Aggression is generally directed at individuals of the same sex.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Data Deficient on The [UCN Red List. Little is known about the Panamanian Night Monkey, so its conservation status is uncertain. Threats are poorly known, but deforestation and conversion to agriculture are likely among them. The Panamanian Night Monkey is protected in the national natural parks of Ensenada de Utria, Farallones de Cali, Las Orquideas, Los Katios, Munchique, Paramillo, and Tatama in Colombia. In Panama, it is protected in the national parks of Altos de Campana, Camino de Cruces, Cerro Hoya, Chagres, Darién, Isla Bastimentos, Portobelo, Sarigua, and Soberania and, among other protected areas, the Reserva Forestal Canglon, the Bosque Protector San Lorenzo, and the Barro Colorado Nature Monument.
Bibliography. Baldwin & Baldwin (1976a), Crile & Quiring (1940), Defler (2003b, 2004), Defler & Bueno (2007), Ford (1994a, 1994b, 2006), Hall (1981), Hladik et al. (1971), Ma et al. (1978), Montoya et al. (1995), Moynihan (1964, 1976), de Rodaniche (1954), Rylands et al. (2006), Svensson et al. (2010), Thorington et al. (1976), Timm (1988), Uribe (1989), Wilson (2001), Wright (1981, 1989, 1994).
description: Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Aotidae, pp. 414-431 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 427-428, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5726960