variety of ‘chucks’, used to maintain contact in dense vegetation where visual identification is not possible. Food and foraging Black-capped squirrel monkeys are omnivorous. A typical squirrel monkey diet includes fruits, insects, eggs, small vertebrates, arachnids, leaves, flowers, nuts, seeds, and rarely fungi; however it has been observed that they prefer insects to fruit. Mature Saimiri spend most of the day foraging. They will begin foraging at around 60 to 40 minutes before sunrise and will spend the first part of the day actively feeding on fruits and any insects they are able to hunt while foraging for fruit. They will then adopt more sedate feeding behaviours and spend the rest of the day resting and hunting for more insects. Often, when food is not scarce, they will stop and rest for an hour or two in the middle of the day when it is too hot to continue. When fruits are scarce, squirrel monkeys have been reported to consume Ascopolyporus, a fungus that is parasitic on scale insects which are parasitic to local bamboo species. Researchers formulate that this is done as an alternative food source during dry seasons. Locomotion Black-capped squirrel monkeys are mostly found in trees and will often leap 1–2 metres between branches. They are capable of moving swiftly through dense vegetation at a four-legged walk or run with diagonal sequence footfalls (wherein the hind leg on one side will touch down followed by the foreleg of the opposite side). They will occasionally adopt a stationary bipedal stance at ground level while foraging. The monkey's tail is usually used for balance, or by infants to secure them to their mother's tail or abdomen. Conservation status The black-capped squirrel monkey population has been listed as being of ‘Least Concern’ by the IUCN, despite population numbers being in a general state of decline. It has been determined that the black-capped squirrel monkey is adapts easily to changes or potential threats to its environment, and is not subject to high levels of hunting by humans. According to the IUCN, the main threats to the habitat of the monkey are agricultural and aquacultural uses of their habitat, and the use of the monkey's biological resources for purposes such as hunting, trapping, logging and wood harvesting. References External links Saimiri boliviensis boliviensis genome in Ensembl Squirrel monkeys Primates of South America Mammals described in 1834 Articles containing video clips Taxa named