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 Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and the extreme north-western portion of South America in western Colombia and northwestern

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. The Colombian white-faced capuchin was one of the many species originally described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is a member of the family Cebidae, the family of

New World monkeys New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboidea ...

containing

capuchin monkey The capuchin monkeys () are New World monkeys of the subfamily Cebinae. They are readily identified as the " organ grinder" monkey, and have been used in many movies and television shows. The range of capuchin monkeys includes some tropical fores ...

s and

squirrel monkey 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 (''sai-mirím'' or ''çai-mbirín'', with ''sai'' meaning 'monkey' and ''mirím'' ...

s. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

for the genus ''

Cebus 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 ...

'', the genus that includes all the capuchin monkeys. Until the 21st century the

Panamanian white-faced capuchin The Panamanian white-faced capuchin (''Cebus imitator''), also known as the Panamanian white-headed capuchin or Central American white-faced capuchin, is a medium-sized New World monkey of the family Cebidae, subfamily Cebinae. Native to the for ...

, ''Cebus imitator'', was considered conspecific with the Colombian white-faced capuchin, as the subspecies ''C. capucinus imitator''. Some primatologists continue to consider the Panamanian and Colombian white-faced capuchins as a single species. In 2012 a study by Boubli, ''et al'' demonstrated that ''C. imitator'' and ''C. capucinus'' split up to 2 million years ago. 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. Two subspecies of Colombian white-faced capuchin are recognized: * ''C. c. capucinus'', from mainland South America and Panama * ''C. c. curtus'', from the Pacific island of Gorgona, sometimes referred to as the Gorgona white-faced capuchin. Like other monkeys in the genus ''

'', the Colombian white-faced capuchin is named after the order of Capuchin friars because the

cowl A cowl is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, often worn by monks. Originally it may have referred simply to the hooded portion of a cloak. In contemporary usage, however, it is distinguished from a clo ...

s of these friars closely resemble the monkey's head coloration. The coloration is black on the body, tail, legs and the top of the head, with white chest, throat, face, shoulders and upper arms. The head and body length is between with a tail length of between . Males weigh between , while females are about 27% smaller, weighing between . ''C. c. curtus'' has a shorter tail. The white-faced capuchin is found in the extreme north-western strip between the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

and the Andes Mountains in Colombia and northwestern

. ''C. c. capucinus'' has been listed as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

from a conservation standpoint by the IUCN, while ''C. c. curtus'' has been listed as vulnerable.

References

{{Taxonbar , from=Q585189 Capuchin monkeys Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Ecuador Primates of Central America Tool-using mammals Mammals described in 1758 Primates of South America Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus