Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin (''Cebus albifrons'') is a species of

gracile capuchin monkey 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 ...

. It is found in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and potentially the island of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

Taxonomy

The species name ''Cebus albifrons'' was formerly considered to also include several types of white-fronted capuchin monkey which are now regarded as separate species based on genetic studies by Boubli and Lynch Alfaro.

Trinidad white-fronted capuchin

Boubli ''et al''. found in a 2012 study that the capuchins on

, previously classified as ''C. albifrons trinitatis'', had derived from within ''C. olivaceus brunneus'' (or more specifically, the mitochondrial genes of the single Trinidad specimen they sampled derived from ''brunneus''). However, the physical differences amongst Trinidad populations have cast doubt on this categorization. Further complicating this taxonomy is the fact that subsequent morphological inspection of the ''C. brunneus'' specimens used for the study found them to be distinct from the actual type specimen of ''C. brunneus''. Due to this controversy, taxonomic authorities take differing views on the Trinidad capuchins; 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 an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

classifies them as a distinct,

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

species (''C. trinitatis''), the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence ...

recognizes them as conspecific with ''C. brunneus'', and the

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 ...

considers them a subspecies of the white-fronted capuchin (''C. a. trinitatis'').

Habitat and distribution

Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin is found in eastern

, southern

, northern

, and potentially

. It prefers

primary forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

but is also found in various types of

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

. It tends to prefer moister and less disturbed forest than other capuchin species. The species has been classified as "least concern" from a conservation standpoint by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

. However, the Trinidad subspecies is classified as

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

, having a population of only 50 mature individuals.

Description

The head and body length of Humboldt's white-fronted capuchins is about . Tail length for males is about and it is between for females. Males weigh about and females weigh about . They have grayish brown fur on the back with darker limbs and yellowish brown hands and feet. The front is cream colored. Their face is pink and they have a dark brown wedge-shaped cap which is clearly separated from the lighter forehead.

Ecology

The diet is varied, including fruits (such as

palm nut Palm nut can refer to: * The fruit of the oil palm ('' Elaeis'') tree * The fruit or seed of any palm tree (''Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monoco ...

s and figs), insects, insect larvae, other invertebrates, reptiles such as lizards, birds, bird eggs, small mammals, flowers, nectar, honey, leaves, nuts, palms, stems, seeds and tree frogs. Individuals in

Jaú National Park The Jaú National Park () is a national park located in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is one of the largest forest reserves in South America, and part of a World Heritage Site. Location The name "Jaú" comes from that of one of the largest ...

in Brazil have been observed eating ''

Podocnemis ''Podocnemis'' is a genus of aquatic turtles, commonly known as South American river turtles, in the Family (biology), family Podocnemididae. The genus consists of six Extant taxon, extant species occurring in tropical South America.Igapó floor when the Igapó is not flooded. Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin has been known to rub or bang food items against hard surfaces. It sometimes associates with

squirrel monkey Squirrel monkeys are New World monkeys of the genus ''Saimiri''. ''Saimiri'' is the only genus in the subfamily Saimiriinae. The name of the genus is of Tupi origin (''sai-mirím'' or ''çai-mbirín'', with ''sai'' meaning 'monkey' and ''mirím' ...

s, tufted capuchins, brown woolly monkeys and Venezuelan red howler monkeys. Both the Humboldt's squirrel monkey and the Ecuadorian squirrel monkey live within the range of Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin. Predators include the black-and-white hawk-eagle, the ornate hawk-eagle, the tayra and the

harpy eagle The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a large Neotropical realm, neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea Harpy Eagle, New Guin ...

. Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin has a maximum lifespan of about 44 years. It lives in multi-male groups and males form dominance hierarchies. Males participate in caring for and protecting infants. Infants are born at any time of year after a

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

period of between 162 and 180 days. Thomas Defler studied Humboldt's white-fronted capuchins in El Tuparro National Natural Park. Adult males were tolerant of each other in the group, but were very aggressive towards males of other groups. Defler observed intergroup aggressive behavior, which resulted in one group fleeing towards the central parts of their territory. All members of the group were conscious of and responded to the

alpha male In the zoological field of ethology, a dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social animal, social groups interact, creating a ranking system. Dif ...

's actions. The alpha male protected the rest of the group in the presence of any danger. Other members of the group also sought physical contact with the alpha male when threatening other group members. Defler observed Humboldt's white-fronted capuchin in the presence of both three-striped night monkeys and Venezuelan red howlers. He observed no direct interaction between the capuchins and night monkeys, other than the night monkeys watching when capuchins passed their nests, although he observed that there was some competition between the two for the fruit of certain ''

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...

'' and '' Plumeriensis'' trees – the night monkeys would eat the fruit at night and the capuchins would eat fruit from the same tree during the day. In interactions with the red howlers, sometimes the howlers moved away from the capuchins but other times they would eat together in the same tree.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1195979 Capuchin monkeys Primates of Brazil Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Venezuela Mammals described in 1812 Taxa named by Alexander von Humboldt