The Coiba Island howler (''Alouatta coibensis'') is a type of

howler monkey Howler monkeys (genus ''Alouatta'', monotypic in subfamily Alouattinae) are the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropics and are among the largest of the platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyteles''), the spider monkeys (''Atele ...

, a type of

New World monkey 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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

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 ...

. Although the Coiba Island howler has been recognized as a separate species by a number of authorities since a 1987 study of its fingerprints,

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

testing found it does not differ from

mantled howler The mantled howler (''Alouatta palliata'') is a species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central and South America. It is one of the monkey species most often seen and heard in the wild in Central America. It takes its "mantle ...

populations in any significant way. A reason given for treating it as a separate species is that the dermal ridges of its hands and feet differ from those of the mantled howler. ''A. c. coibensis'' is smaller than other Central American howler monkeys and has duller pelage than the

Azuero howler The Azuero howler (''Alouatta coibensis trabeata'') a type of monkey that is a subspecies of the Coiba Island howler ''A. coibensis''. This subspecies is endemic to the Azuero Peninsula in Panama. The Azuero howler is distinguished primarily by ...

, ''Alouatta coibensis trabeata''.

Subspecies

Two subspecies of this howler have been recognized by those who consider it a separate species: *''Alouatta coibensis coibensis''

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, 1902, found on

Coiba Island Coiba is the largest island in Central America, with an area of , off the Pacific coast of the Panamanian province of Chiriquí. It is part of the Tolé District of that province. History Coiba separated from continental Panama about 12,000 t ...

and Jicaron, off the

Pacific 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 contine ...

coast of

, ''A. c. trabeata'' Lawrence, 1933,

to the

Azuero Peninsula Azuero Peninsula ( es, Península de Azuero) is a large peninsula in southern Panama. It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean in the south; the Pacific and Gulf of Montijo to the west, and by the Gulf of Panama in the east. The peninsula is effecti ...

in Panama.

References

External links

Howler monkeys Howler, Coiba Island Mammals described in 1902 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{newworld-monkey-stub