The Colombian white-faced capuchin (''Cebus capucinus''), also known as the Colombian white-headed capuchin or Colombian white-throated capuchin, is a medium-sized New World monkey of the family Cebidae, subfamily Cebinae. It is native to the extreme eastern portion of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and the extreme north-western portion of South America in western

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and northwestern

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. The Colombian white-faced capuchin was one of the many species originally described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is a member of the family

Cebidae The Cebidae are one of the five families of New World monkeys now recognised. Extant members are the capuchin and squirrel monkeys. These species are found throughout tropical and subtropical South and Central America. Characteristics Cebid m ...

, the family of

New World monkeys 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 Ceboide ...

containing

capuchin monkey The capuchin monkeys () are New World monkeys of the subfamily Cebinae. They are readily identified as the "Street organ, organ grinder" monkey, and have been used in many movies and television shows. The range of capuchin monkeys includes some t ...

s and

squirrel monkey Squirrel monkeys are New World monkeys of the genus ''Saimiri''. ''Saimiri'' is the only genus in the subfamily Saimiriinae. The name of the genus is of Tupi origin (''sai-mirím'' or ''çai-mbirín'', with ''sai'' meaning 'monkey' and ''mirím' ...

s. It is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

for the genus ''

Cebus Gracile capuchin monkeys are capuchin monkeys in the genus ''Cebus''. At one time all capuchin monkeys were included within the genus ''Cebus''. In 2011, Jessica Lynch Alfaro ''et al.'' proposed splitting the genus between the robust capuchin ...

'', the genus that includes all the capuchin monkeys. Until the 21st century, the

Panamanian white-faced capuchin The Panamanian white-faced capuchin (''Cebus imitator''), also known as the Panamanian white-headed capuchin or Central American white-faced capuchin, is a medium-sized New World monkey of the family Cebidae, subfamily Cebinae. Native to the fore ...

, ''Cebus imitator'', was considered conspecific with the Colombian white-faced capuchin, as the subspecies ''C. capucinus imitator''. Some primatologists continue to consider the Panamanian and Colombian white-faced capuchins as a single species. In 2012 a study by Boubli, ''et al'' demonstrated that ''C. imitator'' and ''C. capucinus'' split up to 2'' ''million years ago. Although the Panamanian white-faced capuchin is the most well-studied capuchin monkey species, as of 2014, there had been no field studies of the Colombian white-faced capuchin. Two subspecies of Colombian white-faced capuchin are recognized: * ''C. c. capucinus'', from mainland South America and Panama * ''C. c. curtus'', from the Pacific island of Gorgona, sometimes referred to as the Gorgona white-faced capuchin. Like other monkeys in the genus ''

'', the Colombian white-faced capuchin is named after the order of

Capuchin friars The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of Franciscans, Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three "Religious institute#Nomenclature, F ...

because the

cowl A cowl is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, often worn by monks. It was developed during the Early Middle Ages. The term may have originally referred to the hooded portion of a cloak, though contempor ...

s of these friars closely resemble the monkey's head coloration. The coloration is black on the body, tail, legs and the top of the head, with white chest, throat, face, shoulders and upper arms. The head and body length is between with a tail length of between . Males weigh between , while females are about 27% smaller, weighing between . ''C. c. curtus'' has a shorter tail. The white-faced capuchin is found in the extreme north-western strip between the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and the

Andes Mountains The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

and northwestern

. ''C. c. capucinus'' has been listed as vulnerable from a conservation standpoint by 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 ...

, while ''C. c. curtus'' has been listed as vulnerable.

References

{{Taxonbar , from=Q585189 Capuchin monkeys Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Ecuador Primates of Central America Tool-using mammals Mammals described in 1758 Primates of South America Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus