Colombian white-faced capuchin | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
Family: | Cebidae |
Genus: | Cebus |
Species: | C. capucinus |
Binomial name | |
Cebus capucinus | |
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Distributions of Cebus capucinus (red) [2] and Cebus imitator (blue). C. capucinus is found in eastern Panama as well as South America. |
The Colombian white-faced capuchin (Cebus capucinus), also known as the Colombian white-headed capuchin or Colombian white-throated capuchin, is a medium-sized New World monkey of the family Cebidae, subfamily Cebinae. It is native to the extreme eastern portion of Panama and the extreme north-western portion of South America in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. [3]
The Colombian white-faced capuchin was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. [4] It is a member of the family Cebidae, the family of New World monkeys containing capuchin monkeys and squirrel monkeys. It is the type species for the genus Cebus , the genus that includes all the capuchin monkeys. [5]
Until the 21st century, the Panamanian white-faced capuchin, Cebus imitator, was considered conspecific with the Colombian white-faced capuchin, as the subspecies C. capucinus imitator. [5] Some primatologists continue to consider the Panamanian and Colombian white-faced capuchins as a single species. [3] In 2012 a study by Boubli, et al demonstrated that C. imitator and C. capucinus split up to 2 million years ago. [6] [7] Although the Panamanian white-faced capuchin is the most well-studied capuchin monkey species, as of 2014, there had been no field studies of the Colombian white-faced capuchin. [7]
Two subspecies of Colombian white-faced capuchin are recognized: [3] [8]
Like other monkeys in the genus Cebus , the Colombian white-faced capuchin is named after the order of Capuchin friars because the cowls of these friars closely resemble the monkey's head coloration. [9] [10] The coloration is black on the body, tail, legs and the top of the head, with white chest, throat, face, shoulders and upper arms. [3] The head and body length is between 33 and 45 cm (13 and 18 in ) with a tail length of between 35 and 55 cm (14 and 22 in). [3] Males weigh between 3 and 4 kg (6.6 and 8.8 lb ), while females are about 27% smaller, weighing between 1.5 and 3 kg (3.3 and 6.6 lb). [3] C. c. curtus has a shorter tail. [8]
The white-faced capuchin is found in the extreme north-western strip between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains in Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. [2]
C. c. capucinus has been listed as vulnerable from a conservation standpoint by the IUCN, while C. c. curtus has been listed as vulnerable. [1] [11]