Buenas dias familia!
I thought we'd visit something fun today, monkeys! Monkey in Spanish is "el mono", for more than one you say "los monos". A group of monkeys is called a "troop" (that's English, don't know Spanish for that). There are four kinds of monkeys in Costa Rica, the squirrel monkey, the white faced capuchin, the mantled howler, and the spider monkey. The monkeys can be seen in the national parks of Costa Rica, but all four species together can only be seen in Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula (where I was with WWU in July).
The Central American Squirrel Monkey, or "titi" (tea-tea) as it's known in Costa Rica is the smallest of the monkeys, weighing in under 2 pounds. This monkey lives only in the secondary and partially logged primary forests of the lowlands (largely Manuel Antonio), and are only found in the central and south Pacific coast of Costa Rica and the nothern Pacific coast of Panama, near the Costa Rican border. In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) revised its conservation status to "vulnerable" after rating it "endangered" since 1982, this awesome change for the better may be connected to the Wildlife Conservation Law of 1992, which has made it illegal to keep captive wildlife in Costa Rica. 
All three of the other monkeys are found in wider ranges, being found in almost all forests of Costa Rica, and some range as far as from Mexico to Ecuador. The white faced capuchin or "carita blanca" (literlly little white face in Spanish), is the second smallest, with males weighing around 8 pounds and females around 5. This monkey and the howler monkey are labeled as "least concern", but all of the species are at risk due to large deforestation and habitat loss.
The Mantled Howler or Congo Monkey, "mantled" because of the long gold hairs on it sides, and "howler" because of the male's enlarged hyoid bone which allows the males to project their calls, is one of the largest monkeys (12-16 lbs.). They eat mainly leaves and some fruit, which don't provide very much energy, and as such the monkeys will spend most of their days resting and sleeping in the treetops. This type of monkey will form hierarchal type groups, with an alpha male and upper and lower rankings that depend on age, sex, and dominance. Once the monkeys reach maturity, they are kicked out of the group, this prevents genetic mixing, but some high ranking monkeys will kill a low ranking's infant to ensure their own offsprings success. These monkeys can have a lifespan of 25 years and the troops will travel together for about 2,500 ft. everyday. Troops will have overlapping territories and aggressive conrontations between individuals and groups are not often seen, but do happen. The males will use their loud, well-known call for many occasions, when waking up or settling down for the night, to inform the rest of the troop of trouble, when startled by a low-flying plane or diesel truck and whenever we are trying to sleep it seems.
Last but not least is the Geoffroy's Spider Monkey, aka mono arana (are-ah-nyah) or mono colorado, it is labeled "endangered", and is the largest of Costa Rica's monkeys (17-18 lbs.) These monkeys are the most mobile of all, they use their tail like a hand and can swiftly fly through the canopy. The troop will sleep together, then divide into groups of 2-3 during the day. They have a variety of noises, calls, facial expressions, and behaviors they use to communicate.
These are the four monkeys of Costa Rica. All of them eat a diet of leaves and fruit and some also eat insects and lizards. Only one is labeled as endangered, but all are succeptible to habitat loss and degradation. A baby is born about every two years, so populations can be hard to maintain. Hopefully we will see at least three of the monkeys if we go to one of the national parks.
VOCAB for today:
monkey(s) - "el/los mono(s)"
Please - "por favor" (poe-r fah-vor)
Thank you - "gracias" (gr-ah-see-us)
Keep in mind, these are Spanish words, in Spanish you speak in the front of your mouth, your lips don't move really drastically, and none of the letters are really "harsh", they should puff, roll, and push out of your mouth. Try looking up these words in an online Spanish dictionary to hear how to say them.
Really practice your r's in por favor and gracias, and don't forget to keep practicing your greetings!
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