A bald uakari photographed at Los Angeles Zoo in California
A bald uakari photographed at Los Angeles Zoo in California
Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark

Bald Uakari

Bald uakaris are small South American primates with striking bald heads and bright red faces. (They may be attractive to mates because malarial or sick animals develop pale faces.) They have a long, shaggy coat that varies from reddish brown to orange. These monkeys live only in the Amazon River basin, preferring permanently or seasonally flooded rain forests and locations near water sources, such as small rivers and lakes.

Unlike most monkeys, bald uakaris have very short tails, but move nimbly in the trees without them by using their arms and legs.

These New World monkeys live in groups called troops and are quite social animals. Such gatherings may include close to a hundred animals, but bald uakaris split up during the

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