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Humboldt's Night Monkey

Aotus trivirgatus (Humboldt, 1811)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Open encyclopedia reference

The three-striped night monkey (Aotus trivirgatus), also known as northern night monkey or northern owl monkey, is one of several species of owl monkeys currently recognised. It is found in Venezuela and north-central Brazil. Until 1983, all the owl monkeys were regarded as subspecies of Aotus trivirgatus, and all were referred to as douroucoulis. The use of the name douroucouli exclusively for the three-striped night monkey is not universally accepted; some authors use it for the entire genus, or for the grey-necked group of species within it (to which A. trivirgatus belongs). Like other owl monkeys, the three-striped night monkey lives in woodlands including rain forest. It is mainly black, with striking white markings on its face. Its body size is 27–48 cm, and its tail is about the same length again. Adults weigh up to 1 kg. It has very large eyes, and is most active on moonlit nights, feeding on fruit, nuts, leaves, insects and other small invertebrates, and birds' eggs.

Wikipedia contributors, Three-striped night monkey; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:11:08.490896+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Aotus trivirgatus (Humboldt, 1811)
Name authority
(Humboldt, 1811)
Common name
Humboldt's Night Monkey
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Primates
Family
Aotidae
Genus
Aotus
Extinction status
Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
  9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
  10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
  11. orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
  12. suborderHaplorrhini Pocock, 1918
  13. infraorderSimiiformes Haeckel, 1866
  14. familyAotidae Elliot, 1913
  15. genusAotus Illiger, 1811
  16. speciesAotus trivirgatus (Humboldt, 1811)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Aotus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Azara's Night MonkeyAotus azarae (Humboldt, 1812)AotidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Brumback's Night MonkeyAotus brumbacki Hershkovitz, 1983AotidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Noisy Night MonkeyAotus vociferans (Spix, 1823)AotidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Gray-legged Night MonkeyAotus griseimembra Elliot, 1912AotidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 5 records assigned to Aotidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Nyctipithecus duruculi Lesson, 1840 Lesson, 1840synonym
Nyctipithecus felinus Spix, 1823 Spix, 1823synonym
Cheirogaleus commersonii Wolf, 1822 Wolf, 1822synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

South America

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=572951 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:F6G5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.