The titis, or titi monkeys, are
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 ...
s of the subfamily Callicebinae, which contains three extant genera: ''Cheracebus'', ''Callicebus'', and ''Plecturocebus.''
This subfamily also contains the extinct genera ''
Miocallicebus,
Homunculus
A homunculus ( , , ; "little person", : homunculi , , ) is a small human being. Popularized in 16th-century alchemy and 19th-century fiction, it has historically referred to the creation of a miniature, fully formed human. The concept has root ...
'', and ''Carlocebus''.
Titi monkeys live in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, from
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, east through
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 ...
, and south to
Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
and northern
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
.
Description
Depending on species, titis have a head and body length of , and a tail, which is longer than the head and body, of .
[ The different titi species vary substantially in coloring, but resemble each other in most other physical ways. They have long, soft fur, and it is usually reddish, brownish, grayish or blackish, and in most species the underside is lighter or more reddish than the upperside. Some species have contrasting blackish or whitish foreheads, while all members of the genus ''Cheracebus'' have a white half-collar.][ The tail is always furry and is not ]prehensile
Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding. The word is derived from the Latin term ''prehendere'', meaning "to grasp". The ability to grasp is likely derived from a number of different origin ...
.
Behaviour
Diurnal and arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...
, 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
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...
. 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.[ 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.][Nowak, R. M. (1999). ''Walker's Mammals of the World.'' 6th edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. ]
Titis are monogamous
Monogamy ( ) is a relationship of two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g. ...
, mating for life. The female bears a single young after about a five-month gestation
Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...
. Twins occur rarely, having been documented in only 1.4% of all births in captive groups of ''Plecturocebus moloch''. 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. 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. 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,[Rowe, Noel (1996). ''The Pictorial Guide to Living Primates.'' Pogonias Press, Charlestown. ] while members of the ''P. moloch'' group have been known to live for more than 25 years in captivity.[
They make elaborate, powerful vocal duets used in long-range communication.]
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 Amazon basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...
since 2000. Furthermore, the most recent review uses the phylogenetic species concept (thereby not recognizing the concept of subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
) rather than the 'traditional' biological species concept
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of classification and ...
.nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
), and the winner was the online casino GoldenPalace.com, as reflected in both the common
Common may refer to:
As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin.
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Com ...
and scientific name
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
of ''P. aureipalatii''. While this typically is a highly unusual event in scientific classification
image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy
Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...
, the possibility of naming a species of titi in exchange for a sizable donation to a nonprofit foundation was also presented a few years before, resulting in ''P. bernhardi'' being named after Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.
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.Cheracebus
''Cheracebus'' is one of three genera of titi monkeys. Monkeys in this genus, particularly the type species ''Cheracebus lugens'', are sometimes referred to as widow titi monkeys.
Historically, titis were monogeneric, comprising only the genus ' ...
''
** Lucifer titi, ''Cheracebus lucifer''
** Black titi
The black titi monkey (''Cheracebus lugens''), is a species of titi, a type of New World monkey, from South America. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. It was described in 1811 as ''Callicebus lugens''. It is sometimes called the ...
, ''Cheracebus lugens''
** Colombian black-handed titi, ''Cheracebus medemi''
** Red-headed titi, ''Cheracebus regulus''
** Collared titi, ''Cheracebus torquatus''
* Genus '' Callicebus''
** Barbara Brown's titi, ''Callicebus barbarabrownae''
** Coimbra Filho's titi, ''Callicebus coimbrai''
** Coastal black-handed titi, ''Callicebus melanochir''
** Black-fronted titi, ''Callicebus nigrifrons''
** Atlantic titi, ''Callicebus personatus''
*Genus †'' Miocallicebus''
**†'' Miocallicebus villaviejai''
*Genus †'' Carlocebus''
**†'' Carlocebus carmenensis''
**†'' Carlocebus intermedius''
*Genus †''Homunculus
A homunculus ( , , ; "little person", : homunculi , , ) is a small human being. Popularized in 16th-century alchemy and 19th-century fiction, it has historically referred to the creation of a miniature, fully formed human. The concept has root ...
''
**†'' Homunculus patagonicus''
References
{{Authority control
Taxa named by R. I. Pocock
Taxa described in 1925
ca:Tití
eu:Titi (animalia)