Cebidae

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Cebidae
Late Oligocene[1]
to present
White-headed capuchin
(Cebus capucinus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Parvorder: Platyrrhini
Family: Cebidae
Bonaparte, 1831
Type genus
Genera
  • Cebus
  • Saimiri
  • Sapajus

The Cebidae are one of the five

New World monkeys now recognised. Extant members are the capuchin and squirrel monkeys.[3] These species are found throughout tropical and subtropical South and Central America
.

Characteristics

Cebid monkeys are

brown capuchin
, with a body length of 33 to 56 cm, and a weight of 2.5 to 3.9 kilograms. They are somewhat variable in form and coloration, but all have the wide, flat, noses typical of New World monkeys.

They are omnivorous, mostly eating fruit and insects, although the proportions of these foods vary greatly between species. They have the dental formula:2.1.3.2-32.1.3.2-3

Females give birth to one or two young after a gestation period of between 130 and 170 days, depending on species. They are social animals, living in groups of between five and forty individuals, with the smaller species typically forming larger groups. They are generally diurnal in habit.[4]

Classification

Previously, New World monkeys were divided between

Aotidae, Pitheciidae and Atelidae.[2] The most recent classification of New World monkeys again splits the callitrichids off, leaving only the capuchins and squirrel monkeys in this family.[3]

White-fronted capuchin (Cebus albifrons)

Extinct taxa

References