The Parecis titi monkey (''Plecturocebus parecis'') is a species of

titi monkey The titis, or titi monkeys, are New World monkeys of the subfamily Callicebinae, which contains three extant genera: ''Cheracebus'', ''Callicebus'', and ''Plecturocebus.'' This subfamily also contains the extinct genera ''Miocallicebus, Homuncul ...

, 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 elsew ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Taxonomy

This species was first discovered to Western science in 1914, where it was documented on the Parecis Plateau. Despite its clearly distinctive pelage, it was then identified as the

ashy black titi The ashy black titi monkey (''Plecturocebus cinerascens'') is a species of titi monkey, a type of New World monkey, endemic to Brazil. It was originally described as ''Callithrix cinerascens'' in 1823. References ashy black titi Mammals of ...

(''P. cinerascens'') in a follow-up report. The species was rediscovered in the same region in 2011, where it was this time identified as a distinct, undescribed species. It was finally described as ''Plecturocebus parecis'' in 2019. The results of this study were followed by the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

ITIS The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

, and

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...

. It is thought to be most closely related to ''P. cinerascens'', with the clade containing both being the

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

Milton's titi Milton's titi monkey (''Plecturocebus miltoni'') is a species of titi monkey, a type of New World monkey, from southern Amazon rainforest, Brazil. It was named after the Brazilian primatologist Milton Thiago de Mello. Milton's titi was discovered ...

(''P. miltoni''). It is known as ''otôhô'' in the local

Paresi language Paresi (also called Haliti-Paresi or Paresi-Haliti by the speakers themselves) is an Arawakan language spoken in Brazil. There are approximately 2000 Paresi people, and around 1800 (~90% of the population) speak the language. The Paresi live in ...

Distribution

This species is

to a small portion of

, where its range is still poorly defined. Its range largely coincides with higher-elevation areas in the transition zone between the

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

and the

Cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...

, including parts of the Parecis Plateau and the

interfluve An interfluve is a narrow, elongated and plateau-like or ridge-like landform between two valleys.Leser, Hartmut, ed. (2005). ''Wörterbuch Allgemeine Geographie'', 13th ed., dtv, Munich, p. 766, . More generally, an interfluve is defined as an ar ...

s of the

Aripuanã River Aripuanã River ( pt, Rio Aripuanã) is a river in the Mato Grosso and Amazonas states in north-western Brazil. It is a tributary of the Madeira River in the Amazon Basin. The town of Novo Aripuanã is located on its banks where it merges into th ...

with the

Juruena Juruena is a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso in the Central-West Region of Brazil. The city is served by Juruena Airport. See also *List of municipalities in Mato Grosso *Sepotuba River The Sepotuba River is a river in the state of M ...

and

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president *Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Roosevel ...

rivers. However, it is also known from relatively low-lying areas in

Juruena National Park Juruena National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional do Juruena), declared in 2006, is the third largest national park of Brazil. It is located along the Juruena River, in the north of Mato Grosso state and the south of Amazonas state. It forms part o ...

Description

It can be distinguished from all other ''

Plecturocebus ''Plecturocebus'' is one of three genera of titi monkeys. Historically, these monkeys were monogeneric, being placed in a single genus: ''Callicebus'' Thomas, 1903. Owing to the great diversity found across titi monkey species, a new genus-level ...

'' species by its generally grayish-

agouti The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Middle America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have also been introduced else ...

pelage Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily #Guard hair, guard hair on top and thick #Down hair, underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as ...

, along with a reddish-chestnut dorsum. Its throat, sideburns, breast, and inner limb surfaces are grayish-white in color, and its tail also turns white towards the tip.

Status

The range of this species coincides with the "Arc of Deforestation", an agricultural frontier of the southern Amazon where the

deforestation of the Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering an area of 3,000,000 km2 (2,316,612.95 square miles). It represents over half of the planet's rainforests and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropica ...

is the highest. The remaining tracts of native forest are impacted frequently by

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

s in the dry season, and further forest fragmentation has occurred due to the construction of

hydroelectric dams Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

, such as the

UHE Rondon II The acronym UHE may have different meanings: * In astronomy and high-energy physics, it means ''Ultra-High Energy'' (refers to energies around the PeV). * Kunovice Airport Kunovice Airport is an international airport located about 5 km (3 ...

. Increasing establishment of rural settlements due to

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

and

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

has led to further degradation and

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. Despite this, its habitat lies within some of the few protected areas in the region, and the steep sides of the Parecis Plateau make deforestation and development unappealing in the area. Due to this, it is classified as

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

by the

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q81543394 Plecturocebus Mammals of Brazil Endemic fauna of Brazil Mammals described in 2019