The Aracá uakari (''Cacajao ayresi''), also known as the Ayres black uakari, is a newly described

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incom ...

from the northwest Brazilian Amazon. It was found by Jean-Phillipe Boubli of the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...

after following native Yanomamo Indians on their hunts along the Rio Aracá, a northern tributary of the Rio Negro. It was subsequently described in 2008 together with the more westerly distributed

Neblina uakari The Neblina uakari (''Cacajao hosomi'') or black-headed uakari, is a newly described species of monkey from the far northwest Brazilian Amazon and adjacent southern Venezuela. It was found by Jean-Phillipe Boubli of the University of Auckland a ...

. Until then, the

black-headed uakari The golden-backed uakari (''Cacajao melanocephalus'') or black-headed uakari, is a New World primate from the family Pitheciidae. It lives in the Amazon Rainforest, and is found in the countries of Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. It has black ...

was the only species of mainly black uakari that was recognized. Stephen F. Ferrari ''et al'' proposed treating the Aracá uakari as a subspecies of the black-headed uakari rather than as a separate species. This monkey is named after Brazilian

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually speciali ...

José Márcio Ayres, formerly a senior zoologist for the

Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...

. José Márcio Ayres, who died in 2003, pioneered studies in uakaris and played a fundamental role in the creation of the

Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve The Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve ( pt, Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá) in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, near the city of Tefé, is a reserve near the village of Boca do Mamirauá. It includes mostly Amazonian ...

, which is of great importance for the white uakari. Very little is known about the Aracá uakari, but based on present knowledge it has the smallest distribution of all species of uakaris (possibly as small as ) and is the only one not found in any protected area. Although few people live within its very remote distribution, it is hunted; at least seasonally. It has been suggested it should be considered

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 inv ...

, but it is currently listed as least concern by the IUCN.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q141453 Sakis and uakaris Mammals of Brazil Endemic fauna of Brazil Aracá uakari