Pissinatti's saki or Pissinatti's bald-faced saki (''Pithecia pissinattii'') is a disputed species of saki monkey, a type of New World monkey. It is endemic to Brazil.

Taxonomy

Populations in this species were formerly classified within the

Rio Tapajós saki The Rio Tapajós saki or Gray's bald-faced saki (''Pithecia irrorata'') is a species of saki monkey, a type of New World monkey, from South America. It is found in parts of western Brazil, southeastern Colombia, southeastern Peru and possibly nor ...

(''P. irrorata''), but a 2014 study described these populations as a distinct species, ''P. pissinattii'', based on their distinctive pelage. However, a 2019 study, also analyzing pelage color variation across the range of the ''P. irrorata'' species complex, delineated only two distinctive groups corresponding to ''P. irrorata'' and

Vanzolini's bald-faced saki Vanzolini's bald-faced saki (''Pithecia vanzolinii'') is a species of saki monkey, a type of New World monkey. Its range is in western Brazil. The monkey is named after Brazilian zoologist Paulo Vanzolini. This species was originally described by ...

(''P. vanzolini''), with the distinctive pelage used to distinguish ''P. pissinatii'' falling within the range of variation of ''P. irrorata''. In addition, the study found that due to an unclear

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

, the holotype of ''P. irrorata'' may have been collected within the range of ''P. pissinatii'', which would render ''pissinattii'' instantly synonymous with ''P. irrorata''. Based on this study, the

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 ...

(tentatively, pending further phylogenetic studies) synonymized ''pissinattii'' with ''irrorata'', but the IUCN Red List and ITIS retain ''pissinattii'' as a distinct species. This species was named after Alcides Pissinatti, a Brazilian veterinarian who is the co-founder of the Centro de Primatologia do Rio de Janeiro and vice president of the Brazilian Academy of Veterinary Sciences, and pioneered

captive breeding Captive breeding, also known as captive propagation, is the process of plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, botanic gardens, and other conservation facilities. It is sometimes employed to help species that ...

for endangered Brazilian primates.

Distribution

This species is endemic to Brazil, where it is found south of the Solimões River between the

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and Purus rivers. It is unknown how far south this species reaches before meeting with ''P. irrorata''.

Description

Both sexes have pink to dark red-colored faces, with the faces of older females tending towards black, and also have black fur with distinct grizzling. Males have a distinct orange ruff; younger males are highly grizzled, but older males are not as much. Females have a tanner back and more grizzling.

Status

This species is thought to be threatened by

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

& poaching and thus its population is thought to be declining. They are sometimes also found in the pet trade, and it is known to be kept as a free-ranging "pet" at Juma Jungle Lodge, Brazil. However, this species remains poorly-known and it is thus classified as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

on the IUCN Red List.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21306290 Pissinatti's saki Mammals of Brazil Endemic fauna of Brazil Pissinatti's saki Controversial mammal taxa