|Scientific Name:||Cebus cay|
|Species Authority:||Illiger, 1815|
|Taxonomic Notes:||Silva Jr (2001, 2002) argued that the tufted capuchins and the untufted capuchins (sensu Hershkovitz 1949, 1955) are so distinct in their morphology that they should be considered separate genera. Cebus Erxleben, 1777 for the untufted group, and Sapajus Kerr, 1792 is the name available for the tufted capuchins.
Taxonomy of the tufted capuchins (sensu Hershkovitz 1949, 1955) follows Silva Jr (2001), who did not recognize any subspecific forms. Groves (2001, 2005) presented an alternative taxonomy for the tufted capuchins as follows: C. apella apella (Linnaeus, 1758); C. apella fatuellus (Linnaeus, 1766); C. apella macrocephalus Spix, 1823; C. apella peruanus Thomas, 1901; C. apella tocantinus Lönnberg, 1939; C. apella ?margaritae Hollister, 1914; C. libidinosus libidinosus Spix, 1823; C. libidinosus pallidus Gray, 1866; C. libidinosus paraguayanus Fischer, 1829; C. libidinosus juruanus Lönnberg, 1939; C. nigritus nigritus (Goldfuss, 1809); C. nigritus robustus Kuhl, 1820; C. nigritus cucullatus Spix, 1823; C. xanthosternos Wied-Neuwied, 1826 (see Fragaszy et al. 2004; Rylands et al. 2005).
Groves (2001) listed C. libidinosus juruanus Lönnberg, 1939, from the upper Rio Juruá, considered by Silva Jr. (2001) to be a junior synonym of C. macrocephalus. C. libidinosus pallidus Gray, 1866, is considered by Silva Jr. to be a junior synonym of C. apella. C. libidinosus paraguayanus Fischer, 1829, listed by Groves (2001) is referred to as Cebus cay by Silva Jr. (2001).
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Least Concern ver 3.1|
|Reviewer(s):||Mittermeier, R.A. & Rylands, A.B. (Primate Red List Authority)|
Listed as Least Concern as the species is widespread and there are currently no major threats resulting in a significant overall population decline that would warrant listing in a threatened category or listing as NT. Although declines need to be considered over a period of 45 years (three generations), the species is more of a habitat generalist than other species with similar life-histories. However, it is declining in some parts of its range.
|Range Description:||The distribution of C. a. paraguayanus (here referred to as C. cay) is described by Cabrera (1957) as the south of the state of Mato Grosso (now the states of Mato Grosso and Mato do Grosso do Sul) and extreme south-east of Goiás, Brazil, through Paraguay, to south-east Bolivia, to northern Argentina, including the provinces of extreme south-east Jujuy, Salta, Formosa, and Chaco (Mantecon et al. 1984; Brown 1989). In Paraguay, C. cay occurs to the east of the Río Paraguai (Hill 1960; Stallings 1985, 1989). Capuchin monkeys are not found in the chaco region of the Provinces of Formosa and Chaco in northern Argentina. So the distribution of C. cay forms a horseshoe shape, bordering the xerophytic chaco of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay (Brown and Rumiz 1986). In the west, the limits are defined by the Andes in Argentina and Bolivia, and in the east it is confined to eastern Paraguay, east of the Rio Paraguai. Probably its southernmost limit in the east is defined by the confluence of the Rios Paraguai and Paraná, about 27º15’S.|
Native:Argentina (Chaco, Formosa, Jujuy, Salta); Bolivia, Plurinational States of; Brazil (Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul); Paraguay
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Population:||There is no information on population densities available.|
|Habitat and Ecology:||
This is a subtropical humid and semi-deciduous forest species, ranging into the Yungas, the dry deciduous forests of northern Bolivian Chaco, eastern Paragiuay (not recorded in the Paraguayan chaco; Stallings 1985, 1989), and the Pantanal. It is an adaptable species that also occurs in degraded habitats.
Capuchins are frugivores-insectivores, including wide variety of fruits, seeds and arthropods, frogs, nestlings and even small mammals, supplemented by stems, flowers and leaves. They are extractive, manipulative foragers. Stallings (1985) recorded an average size of seven for four groups in the Ybicui National Park: population density there was estimated 4 groups/km² or 28 individuals/km². Wallace et al. (1998) recorded an average group size of nine (n=47, SD±5.7, range 1-25) and estimated a population density of 14.1 individuals/km² in the Noel Kempff Mercado Natonal Park in Bolivia. Males disperse. Both sexes take up linear hierarchies, the top ranking male being dominant to the top ranking female. Subordinate males are often peripheral (Fragaszy et al. 2004).
Adult male 1.35-4.8 kg (mean 3.05 kg); adult female: 1.76-3.4 kg (mean 2.4 kg) (Jack 2007).
|Major Threat(s):||There are no major threats. It is hunted for subsistence purposes in some of its range, but human population density is typically low in those areas. Hunting (by Indigenous peoples) and forest loss are the main threats in eastern Paraguay (Stallings 1985). As elsewhere in its range, in Paraguay, Cebus cay is the most common primate pet.|
This species is present in a number of protected areas:
El Rey National Park Province of Salta (44,162 ha) (Brown et al. 1986; Brown 1989)
Calilegua National Park, Province of Jujuy (76,000 ha) (Brown et al. 1986; Brown 1989)
Baritú National Park Province of Jujuy (72,000 ha) (Brown et al. 1986; Brown 1989)
Noel Kempff Mercado Natonal Park (1,500,000 ha) (Wallace et al. 1998)
Pantanal Matogrossense National Park (136,046 ha) (in range)
Serra da Bodoquena National Park (77,232 ha) (in range)
Acurizal Private Reserve (RPPN)
Fazenda Penha Private Reserve (RPPN)
Fazenda Boqueirão Private Reserve (RPPN)
Fazenda Singapura Private Reserve (RPPN)
Fazenda América Private Reserve (RPPN)
Fazenda Trevo Private Reserve (RPPN)
Fazenda Floresta Negra Private reserve (RPPN)
Ybicui National Park (5,000 ha) (Stallings 1985)
Cerro Cora National Park (5,500 ha) (Stallings 1985)
Caaguazu National Park (6,000 ha) (Stallings 1985)
Kuri y National reserve (2,000 ha) (Stallings 1985)
Yakui Protected Forest (1,000 ha) (Stallings 1985)
Nacunday Protected Forest (1,000 ha) (Stallings 1985)
It is listed on CITES Appendix II.
|Citation:||Wallace, R.B. 2008. Cebus cay. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 March 2015.|
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