The gestation period is six months, and the infants are born within a single week during February and March. Typically, a single infant is born. Only 50% of infants survive more than six months, largely due to predation by birds. The infant remains dependent on its mother for about one year. Females give birth every 12 months, so the prior infant becomes independent at about the same time the new infant is born. Females become sexually mature at years old, while males become sexually mature at between 4 and 5 years old. The females leave their natal group upon reaching sexual maturity, while males usually remain with their group for their entire lives. This is different from South American squirrel monkey species, where either males disperse from their natal group or both sexes disperse. Males of the same age tend to associate with each other in age cohorts. Upon reaching sexual maturity, an age cohort may choose to leave the group and attempt to oust the males from another group in order to attain increased reproductive opportunities. The lifespan of the Central American squirrel monkey in the wild is unknown, but captive specimens have been known to live more than 15 years. Other squirrel monkey species are known to be able to live more than 20 years. Distribution and habitat The Central American squirrel monkey has a restricted distribution in Costa Rica and Panama. It lives only near the Pacific coast. Its range covers Central Pacific Costa Rica in the north through western Panama. It lives in two of Costa Rica's national parks—Manuel Antonio National Park and Corcovado National Park—where it can be seen by visitors, but it is not as commonly seen in these parks as the white-headed capuchin or the mantled howler monkeys. It lives in lowland forests and is restricted to secondary forests and primary forests which have been partially logged. It requires forests with abundant low and mid-level vegetation and has difficulty surviving in tall, mature, undisturbed forests that lack such vegetation. Its specialization for coastal lowland forest may explain its restricted distribution. Conservation status It was once believed that the Central American squirrel monkey was just a population of a South American species of squirrel monkey brought to Central America by humans. Evidence for this theory included the very small range of the Central American squirrel monkey and the large gap from the range of