The coastal black-handed titi monkey (''Callicebus melanochir'') is a species of

titi The titis, or titi monkeys, are New World monkeys of the subfamily Callicebinae, which contains three extant genera: ''Cheracebus'', ''Callicebus'', and ''Plecturocebus.'' This subfamily also contains the extinct genera '' Miocallicebus, Homuncu ...

, a type of

New World monkey New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboi ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Description

Coastal black-handed titis are relatively small

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s with fluffy fur, a long, bushy tail and a small, roundish head. Like

atlantic titi The Atlantic titi monkey or masked titi (''Callicebus personatus'') is a species of titi, a type of New World monkey, endemic to Brazil. Distribution and general features The Atlantic titi is part of the genus ''Callicebus'' which is composed of ...

s, they can reach a head trunk length of over 40 centimetres and a weight of up to 1.6 kilograms. Their dense fur is predominantly grey or grey-brown in colour, the head and paws are black. The long tail is the same colour as the torso, as with all jumping monkeys it cannot be used as a

prehensile tail A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has Adaptation (biology), adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully Prehensility, prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and ...

Distribution and habitat

Coastal black-handed titis are found on the

ian Atlantic coast, their range includes the south of

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

and the north of

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

. Their habitat is coastal forest.

Behavioral ecology

Not much is known about the lifestyle of the coastal black-handed titis, but it is probably the similar to that of the atlantic titi. They are diurnal tree dwellers that move around on all fours or jumping. A male and a female, who stay together all their lives, form a family group with their offspring. These groups live in fixed territories, which they mark with songs and defend aggressively if necessary. They feed mainly on fruits and to a lesser extent on seeds and leaves. The fathers participate intensively in the rearing of the young, they carry the young around and only leave it to the mother to suckle.

Conservation

The habitat of the Southern Bahia Jumping Monkey is located in one of the most densely populated regions of Brazil, and its range is correspondingly reduced and fragmented. The main threat is the ongoing

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

; the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

lists the species as "vulnerable".

Literature

* Thomas Geissmann: ''Vergleichende Primatologie.'' Springer-Verlag, Berlin u. a. 2003, . * Marc G. M. van Roosmalen, Tomas van Roosmalen und Russell A. Mittermeier: ''A Taxonomic Review of the Titi Monkeys, Genus „Callicebus“ Thomas 1903, with the Description of two New Species: „Callicebus bernhardi“ and „Callicebus stepehnnashi“, from Brazilian Amazonia.'' In: ''Neotropical Primates.'' 10, , 2002, S. 1–52, PDF. * Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Hrsg.): ''Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, .

External links

IUCN - Entry

References

coastal black-handed titi Primates of Brazil Endemic mammals of Brazil coastal black-handed titi Taxa named by Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied {{newworld-monkey-stub