Howler Monkey Curled on a Mossy Limb in Monteverde

This is a mantled howler monkey, Alouatta palliata, the species found in Costa Rica's cloud forests rather than the black howler, which ranges farther south. Adult males can weigh up to 9 kilograms and are among the loudest land animals, with calls audible up to five kilometers through dense canopy via an enlarged hyoid bone that amplifies sound. Mantled howlers spend most of their lives in the forest canopy, rarely descending to the ground, and rely on a prehensile tail that can support their full body weight on branches. Their diet is mostly leaves supplemented with fruit and flowers, an adaptation that requires long rest periods to digest tough, low-calorie foliage. The species is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, with habitat fragmentation from deforestation posing its main threat across Central America.

Taken February 2019