Colombian white-faced capuchin
The Colombian white-faced capuchin, also known as the Colombian white-headed capuchin or Colombian white-throated capuchin, is a medium-sized New World monkey of the family Cebidae, subfamily Cebinae. It is native to the extreme eastern portion of Panama and the extreme north-western portion of South America in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador.
The Colombian white-faced capuchin was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of [Systema Naturae|10th edition of Systema Naturae]. It is a member of the family Cebidae, the family of New World monkeys containing capuchin monkeys and squirrel monkeys. It is the type species for the genus Cebus, the genus that includes all the capuchin monkeys.
The white-faced capuchin is, with tufted capuchins, the most well-studied capuchin species.
Taxonomy
Until the 21st century, the Panamanian white-faced capuchin, Cebus imitator, was considered conspecific with the Colombian white-faced capuchin, as the subspecies C. capucinus imitator. Some primatologists continue to consider the Panamanian and Colombian white-faced capuchins as a single species. In 2012 a study by Boubli, et al demonstrated that C. imitator and C. capucinus split up to 2 million years ago.Two subspecies of Colombian white-faced capuchin are recognized:
- C. c. capucinus, from mainland South America and Panama
- C. c. curtus, from the Pacific island of Gorgona [Island (Colombia)|Gorgona], sometimes referred to as the Gorgona white-faced capuchin.
The white-faced capuchin is found in the extreme north-western strip between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains in Colombia and northwestern Ecuador.
C. c. capucinus has been listed as vulnerable from a conservation standpoint by the IUCN, while C. c. curtus has been listed as vulnerable.