Guianan squirrel monkey | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
Family: | Cebidae |
Genus: | Saimiri |
Species: | S. sciureus |
Binomial name | |
Saimiri sciureus | |
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Guianan squirrel monkey range shown in green | |
Synonyms | |
Simia sciureaLinnaeus, 1758 |
The Guianan squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) is a species of squirrel monkey from Guiana, Venezuela and Brazil. S. sciureus formerly applied to Humboldt's squirrel monkey and Collins' squirrel monkey, but genetic research in 2009 and 2015 revealed that these are distinct species.
Several now-separate squirrel monkey species were formerly considered a single species, Saimiri sciureus, generally known as the common squirrel monkey, with a wide range in the northern half of South America. [3] [4] A 2009 genetic study by Carretero-Pinzón, et al indicated Humboldt's squirrel monkey, S. cassiquiarensis, from Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, which had been considered a subspecies of S. sciureus, was actually more closely related to other squirrel monkey species. [3] A 2015 genetic study by Lynch Alfaro, et al revealed that Collins' squirrel monkey, S. collinsi, from northeastern Brazil, which had also been considered a subspecies of S. sciureus, should also be treated as a separate species. [4] This left S. sciureus to apply to the squirrel monkeys in northern Brazil and the Guianas. [4] [5] Lynch Alfaro's study also revealed that despite the gap in their ranges, the squirrel monkey species most closely related to the Guianan squirrel monkey is the Central American squirrel monkey of Costa Rica and Panama. [4]
Guianan squirrel monkey males have a body between 25 and 37 centimetres (9.8 and 14.6 in) long with a tail between 36 and 40 centimetres (14 and 16 in) long. [5] Females have a body between 25 and 34 centimetres (9.8 and 13.4 in) long with a tail between 36 and 47 centimetres (14 and 19 in) long. [5] Males weigh between 550 and 1,400 grams (19 and 49 oz) and females weigh between 550 and 1,200 grams (19 and 42 oz). [5] The Guianan squirrel monkey has a pink face, black muzzle and white arches over the eyes. [6] The crown of its head is olive or olive gray. [6] The fur on its back can vary in color among gray, olive or orange, but the belly is white and the arms are yellow-orange. [6]
The Guianan squirrel monkey often feeds and moves in mixed species groups with capuchin monkeys. [6] It also associates with the red-backed bearded saki. [6] Hybrids with the bare-eared squirrel monkey are known to occur along the boundaries of their ranges. [5] The Guianan squirrel monkey's diet includes insects, seeds, fruit, young leaves, flowers, gum, shoots, nectar, spiders, lizards and bird eggs. [5] [6] On at least one occasion one was seen eating a bat, although it does not appear to hunt bats as often as the related Central American squirrel monkey. [5]
Breeding is typically synchronized within each group. [5] Males gain weight in the upper portion of their bodies and become more aggressive prior to mating season. [5] Females do not appear to initiate mating. [5] Gestation period is about 5 months, and all infants within a group are typically born within one week of each other during January or February. [5] Males provide no parental care, but non-maternal females provide some alloparental care. [5] Infants have slightly prehensile tails and are weaned at about 6 months. [5] Females are sexually mature at about 2 1/2 years, and males are fully mature at 4 or 5 years. [5] Guianan squirrel monkeys can live more than 20 years. [5]
The Cebidae are one of the five families of New World monkeys now recognised. Extant members are the capuchin and squirrel monkeys. These species are found throughout tropical and subtropical South and Central America.
Squirrel monkeys are New World monkeys of the genus Saimiri. Saimiri is the only genus in the subfamily Saimirinae. The name of the genus is of Tupi origin and was also used as an English name by early researchers.
Common squirrel monkey is the traditional common name for several small squirrel monkey species native to the tropical areas of South America. The term common squirrel monkey had been used as the common name for Saimiri sciureus before genetic research by Jessica Lynch Alfaro and others indicated S. scuireus covered at least 3 and possibly 4 species: the Guianan squirrel monkey, Humboldt's squirrel monkey and Collins' squirrel monkey. The Ecuadorian squirrel monkey, generally regarded as a subspecies of Humboldt's squirrel monkey, had also been sometimes proposed as a separate species that had originally been included within the term "common squirrel monkey."
The black squirrel monkey, also known as the blackish squirrel monkey or black-headed squirrel monkey, is a small New World primate, endemic to the central Amazon in Brazil. It largely resembles the female of the far more common Bolivian squirrel monkey, though the latter lacks the black central back.
The black-capped squirrel monkey is a species of New-World monkey native to the upper Amazon basin in Bolivia, western Brazil and eastern Peru. They weigh between 365 and 1,135 g and measure, from the head to the base of the tail, between 225 and 370 mm. Black-capped squirrel monkeys are primarily tree-dwelling and are found in both native and plantation forests as well as some farmed areas near running water. Their diet is omnivorous and mostly consists of flowers, fruit, leaves, nuts, seeds, insects, arachnids, eggs and small vertebrates. They mostly live in female-dominated troops of around 40 to 75 monkeys, with males having been observed to disperse to live in all-male troops after reaching sexual maturation. Their current conservation status according to the IUCN is 'Least Concern'. The species belongs to the genus Saimiri and has two subspecies, S. b. boliviensis and S. b. peruviensis.
The Central American squirrel monkey, also known as the red-backed squirrel monkey, is a squirrel monkey species from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Panama. It is restricted to the northwestern tip of Panama near the border with Costa Rica, and the central and southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, primarily in Manuel Antonio and Corcovado National Parks.
The saddle-back tamarins are squirrel-sized New World monkeys from the family Callitrichidae in the genus or subgenus Leontocebus. They were split from the tamarin genus Saguinus based on genetic data and on the fact that saddle-back tamarins are sympatric with members of Saguinus to a greater extent than would be expected from two members of the same genus. However, this argument can be circular, as several other mammals show sympatry among congeneric species, such as armadillos, spotted cats, and fruit-eating bats. Some authors still consider Leontocebus to be a subgenus of Saguinus.
Gracile capuchin monkeys are capuchin monkeys in the genus Cebus. At one time all capuchin monkeys were included within the genus Cebus. In 2011, Jessica Lynch Alfaro et al. proposed splitting the genus between the robust capuchin monkeys, such as the tufted capuchin, and the gracile capuchins. The gracile capuchins retain the genus name Cebus, while the robust species have been transferred to Sapajus.
The Colombian white-faced capuchin, 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.
Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin is a species of gracile capuchin monkey. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and potentially the island of Trinidad.
The brown weeper capuchin or Venezuelan brown capuchin is a species of gracile capuchin monkey endemic to Venezuela, although some sources also consider it to occur on Trinidad.
The Sierra de Perijá white-fronted capuchin is a species of gracile capuchin monkey from Colombia and Venezuela. It had formerly been regarded as a subspecies of the Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin but was reclassified by Mittermeier and Rylands as a separate species in 2013, based on genetic studies by Jean Boubli.
The Marañón white-fronted capuchin also or known as Peruvian white-fronted capuchin or Andean white-fronted capuchin is a species of gracile capuchin monkey from the upper Amazon Basin. It had been regarded as synonymous with the shock-headed capuchin, which was then considered a subspecies of Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin, but it was classified as a separate species by Mittermeier and Rylands based on genetic studies by Boubli.
The shock-headed capuchin is a species of gracile capuchin monkey from Bolivia and Peru. It was previously classified as a subspecies of the Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin, but in 2013 Mittermeier and Rylands elevated it to a separate species, following genetic studies by Boubli et al. in 2012 and Lynch Alfaro et al. in 2010.
Spix's white-fronted capuchin is a species of gracile capuchin monkey. It had previously been classified as a subspecies of the Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin. Following genetic studies by Boubli, et al, Mittermeier and Ryland elevated it to a full species.
Humboldt's squirrel monkey is a species of squirrel monkey from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It had previously been considered a subspecies of the common squirrel monkey, S. scuireus, but was elevated to full species status based on a genetic study by Carretero-Pinzón in 2009. A genetic study by Jessica Lynch Alfaro, et al indicated that the Ecuadorian squirrel monkey may be synonymous with Saimiri cassiquiarensis. As of 2018, the Ecuadorian squirrel monkey is generally regarded as a subspecies of Humboldt's squirrel monkey, S. cassiquiarensis macrodon.
Collins' squirrel monkey is a species of squirrel monkey endemic to Brazil. It had been considered a subspecies of the common squirrel monkey until a genetic study by Jessica Lynch Alfaro et al. elevated it to species status.
The Ecuadorian squirrel monkey is a type of squirrel monkey. It had been considered a subspecies of the Guianan squirrel monkey, Saimiri sciureus, but was elevated to a full species, S. macrodon, based on a 2009 study by Carretero-Pinzón, et al. Based on subsequent genetic research by Jessica Lynch Alfaro, et al it was again reclassified as a subspecies of Humboldt's squirrel monkey.