White-shouldered capuchin monkey
| White-shouldered capuchin monkey | ||||||||||||
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| Cebus capucinus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The white-shouldered capuchin monkey ( Cebus capucinus ) is a primate species from the genus of capuchin monkeys within the New World monkey . It occurs in the west Andean Colombia , in the northwest of Ecuador south to the Río Esmeraldas and in the east of Panama . The remaining Central American capuchin monkeys are now regarded as a separate species under the name Panama capuchin monkey ( Cebus imitatus ).
features
Externally, white-shouldered capuchin monkeys and Panama capuchin monkeys are almost indistinguishable from each other. White-shouldered capuchin monkeys reach head-trunk lengths of 33 to 45 cm, plus a 35 to 55 cm long tail. Males are significantly heavier, weighing 3 to 4 kg, than the females, which can reach 1.5 to 3 kg. They are relatively slim, torso, top of head, arms and legs, as well as the tail are black, the chest, the fringe of hair around the hairless, pink face with forehead and cheeks, the shoulders and upper arms are white. With increasing age, the white hair around the face can become thinner and lead to complete baldness in old age.
Way of life
The habitat of the white-shouldered capuchin monkeys are forests, although they can be found in different forest types. However, they prefer undisturbed terra firme forests and older secondary forests . They also occur in periodically flooded forests ( Igapó forest , Várzea forest ), in island-like residual forests with Scheelea magdalenica palm trees, in mangroves and in deciduous dry forests on the plains and in the mountains. They live on the western slopes of the Andes up to altitudes of 1800 to 2200 meters. They use all heights of the forests and often go to the ground. Most of the time, however, they stay at the highest possible altitude. White-shouldered capuchin monkeys live in groups that consist of several males and females and their offspring. Both genders establish a hierarchy. The group size is 6 to 24 animals. They feed primarily on ripe fruits and insects, and leaves, buds, flowers and bird eggs are also frequently eaten. The population on the Pacific island of Gorgona also collects mussels, which they open with falling rocks, and during the low tide they catch crabs. Female white-shouldered capuchin monkeys have a single cub every two years. The gestation period is 157 to 167 days. Births take place all year round, but a particularly large number of young animals are born between December and April. White-shouldered capuchin monkeys can live to be over 40 years old. The way of life of the white-shouldered capuchin monkey is far less well researched than that of the Panama capuchin monkey. However, it is assumed that both types are largely the same.
Systematics
The white-shouldered capuchin monkey was first described in 1758 by the founder of modern botanical and zoological taxonomy , the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linné under the name Simia capucina .
The reason for the split of the white-shouldered capuchin monkey and the Panama capuchin monkey into two species is a phylogenetic study on the basis of molecular biological characteristics, which showed that the Central American capuchin monkeys were isolated from the South American white-shouldered capuchin monkeys 1.7 million years ago and that the genetic distance is correspondingly large is. Cebus imitator , which was already described in 1903 by the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas , but was later synonymous with Cebus capucinus , has therefore become an independent species again, which was adopted in the primate volume of the standard work Handbook of the Mammals of the World .
On the lower Río Cauca in Colombia, the white-shouldered capuchin monkey hybridizes with the white-fronted capuchin monkey ( Cebus albifrons ). A population on the island of Gorgona around 28 km off the mainland of Colombia is regarded as an independent subspecies and has the name Cebus capucinus curtus . It is smaller and has a shorter tail.
Danger
The nominate form of the white-shouldered capuchin monkey is relatively common and is considered to be harmless, but the subspecies Cebus capucinus curtus is endangered because of its small distribution area. The white-shouldered capuchin monkey is found in some national parks and protected areas, in Colombia among others in the national parks Los Katíos and Utría and in Panama z. B. in Darién National Park . The island of Gorgona is also a protected area.
literature
- Anthony B. Rylands, Russell A. Mittermeier, Bruna M. Bezerra, Fernanda P. Paim & Helder L. Queiroz: Family Cebidae (Squirrel Monkeys and Capuchins). Pages 412-413 in Russell A. Mittermeier , Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson : Handbook of the Mammals of the World - Volume 3: Primates. Lynx Edicions, 2013 ISBN 978-8496553897
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jean P. Boubli, Anthony B. Rylands, Izeni P. Farias, Michael E. Alfaro, Jessica Lynch Alfaro:Cebus Phylogenetic Relationships: A Preliminary Reassessment of the Diversity of the Untufted Capuchin Monkeys American Journal of Primatology 00: 1–13 (2012) DOI: 10.1002 / ajp.21998