How to Know the Gender of a Spider Monkey

One of the most common mistakes people make when it comes to spider monkeys is misidentifying the gender. I’ve even heard of veterinarians making this mistake if they are not familiar with primates, specifically spider monkeys.

Fun Fact: spider monkeys are one of the few primates without a penis bone, also known as baculum.

Baby female spider monkeys are often mistaken as males due to their pendulous clitoris. Their oversized dangling clitoris is on full display from birth and very much resembles the look of a penis. You will often hear it called a pseudo-penis. The male spider monkey’s penis is fully retracted in its flaccid state, making it rarely visible.

It was once described to me as human females have privates and spider monkey females have publics.

If you compare two baby spider monkeys side by side, the female has the outward private parts whereas the males do not, which is extremely unusual, causing confusion in those uneducated on the topic. The male spider monkeys may have penis envy since the female’s pseudo-penis is always larger than theirs!

The black handed spider monkeys reach sexual maturity between the age of 4-6 years. Females only give birth to one baby around every 4 years.