GUWS Medical

Whitefronted capuchin

Cebus albifrons

SUBFAMILY

Cebinae

TAXONOMY

Cebus albifrons (Humboldt, 1812), Orinoco River, Venezuela. Eleven subspecies.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Fur color varies from light to dark brown with a dark wedge-shaped cap and white-yellow underside. Head and body length is 14.1-18.1 in (35.8-46 cm). Tail length is 15.8-18.7 in (40.1-47.5 cm). Weight is 3.1-7.2 lb (1.4-3.3 kg).

DISTRIBUTION

Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

HABITAT

Primary deciduous, gallery, mangrove, and flooded forest up to 6,500 ft (2,000 m).

BEHAVIOR

Diurnal and arboreal. Multimale-multifemale groups of 10-30 individuals with more adult females than males. Group is led by one dominant male, and all animals are in a dominance hierarchy. Males emigrate from natal group.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Predominantly eat fruit and animal prey. Diet includes fruit, seeds, nectar, pith, insects, and small vertebrates.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Polygamous, both sexes mate promiscuously. Females reach sexual maturity at 3.5-4 years. Gestation is 5.5 months. Births are single. Birth peak February-July.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Widespread and uncommon to locally common. Main pressures on populations include habitat degradation, deforestation, and hunting for food. Listed in Appendix 2 of CITES.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Hunted for food (bushmeat) and kept as pets in Brazil. Considered crop pests in parts of their range and killed. ♦