Click this link, close your eyes and listen. What do you hear? Something that sounds not quite like a roar or bark, but yet all too wild to be human. These sounds were made by the aptly-named mono aullador de manto oro, mantled howler monkey, one of the loudest creatures in the animal kingdom.
Mantled howler monkeys are black, but get their name because of gold patches on their sides that look like they’re wearing a mantle or cloak. Howler monkeys also have a fifth limb: their cola, or tail. They can use them to grasp, and even hang from tree branches. This is called a prehensile tail. While all monkeys have tails, only some of them, like the mantled howler monkey, have prehensile tails.
Another use for prehensile tails is when howler monkeys are babies. For the first four months of their lives, howler monkeys are almost always on their mom's back. They wrap their tails around their mom’s tail so that they don’t fall off.
