Titi monkey

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Titis
Brown titi
(Plecturocebus brunneus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Pitheciidae
Subfamily: Callicebinae
Pocock, 1925
Genera

Cheracebus
Callicebus
Plecturocebus

The titis, or titi monkeys, are New World monkeys of the subfamily Callicebinae, which contains three extant genera: Cheracebus, Callicebus, and Plecturocebus.[1][2] This subfamily also contains the extinct genera Miocallicebus, Homunculus, and Carlocebus.[3]

Titi monkeys live in South America, from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, east through Brazil, and south to Bolivia and northern Paraguay.

Description

Depending on species, titis have a head and body length of 23–46 centimetres (9.1–18.1 in), and a tail, which is longer than the head and body, of 26–56 centimetres (10–22 in).

prehensile
.

Behaviour

arboreal, titis predominantly prefer dense forests near water. They easily jump from branch to branch, earning them their German
name, Springaffen (jumping monkeys). They sleep at night, but can also take a midday nap.

Titis are territorial. They live in family groups that consist of parents and their offspring, about two to seven animals in total. They defend their territory by shouting and chasing off intruders, but rarely engage in actual fighting.[4] Their grooming and communication is important for the co-operation of the group. They can typically be seen in pairs sitting or sleeping with tails entwined.

The diet of the titis consists mainly of fruits, although they also eat leaves, flowers, insects, bird eggs and small vertebrates.[4]

Titis are monogamous, mating for life. The female bears a single young after about a five-month gestation. Twins occur rarely, having been documented in only 1.4% of all births in captive groups of Plecturocebus moloch.[6] While the second infant usually does not survive, cases where neighbouring groups have adopted infants are known, suggesting that twins may be reared successfully under certain circumstances.[7] Often it is the father who cares for the young, carrying it and bringing it to the mother only for nursing. Fathers tend to engage in more grooming, food-sharing, inspecting, aggression and playing with infants than mothers.[8] The young are weaned after 5 months and are fully grown after two years. After three or more years, they leave their family group in order to find a mate. While the life expectancy of most species is unclear, the members of the genus Cheracebus may live for up to 12 years in the wild,[9] while members of the P. moloch group have been known to live for more than 25 years in captivity.[4]

They make elaborate, powerful vocal duets used in long-range communication.[10]

Classification

The number of known species of titis has doubled in recent years, with eight, P. stephennashi, P. bernhardi, P. caquetensis, P. aureipalatii, P. miltoni, P. urubambensis, P. grovesi, and P. parecis being described from the

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.[12]

A pair of white-eared titis (P. donacophilus) entwining tails.

Historically, titis were monogeneric and formed the genus Callicebus Thomas, 1903. Owing to the great diversity found across titi monkey species, a new genus-level taxonomy was recently proposed that recognises three genera within the subfamily Callicebinae; Cheracebus Byrne et al. (2016) for the species of the torquatus group (Widow titis); Callicebus Thomas, 1903, for species of the Atlantic Forest personatus group; and Plecturocebus Byrne et al. (2016) for the Amazonian and Chaco titis of the moloch and donacophilus groups.[2]

References

  1. OCLC 62265494
    .
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ Silvestro, Daniele; Tejedor, Marcelo F.; Serrano Serrano, Martha L.; Loiseau, Oriane; Rossier, Victor; Rolland, Jonathan; Zizka, Alexander; Antonelli, Alexandre; Salamin, Nicolas (2017). "Evolutionary history of New World monkeys revealed by molecular and fossil data" (PDF). BioRxiv. _: 1–32. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  4. ^
  5. ^ a b van Roosmalen, Marc G. M.; Roosmalen, Tomas van; Mittermeier, Russell A. (2002). "A taxonomic review of the titi monkeys, genus Callicebus Thomas, 1903, with the description of two new species, Callicebus bernhardi and Callicebus stephennashi, from Brazilian Amazonia" (PDF). Neotropical Primates. 10 (Suppl): 1–52. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2015-08-26.
  6. (PDF) from the original on 2010-07-17. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  7. .
  8. .
  9. .
  10. .
  11. ^ Trials of a Primatologist. Archived 2009-10-14 at the Portuguese Web Archive Smithsonian magazine, February 2008. Accessed March 16, 2008.
  12. ^ .
  13. .
  14. ^ "news.nationalgeographic.com 2015-03-15 New Titi Monkey Found: Fire-Tailed, With Sideburns". Archived from the original on 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
  15. (PDF) from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2012.