News

New species of titi monkey discovered in Colombia

Monday 9th August 2010

Caquetá titi monkey holotype in captivity (juvenile female)
Caquetá titi monkey holotype in captivity (juvenile female)

During a recent expedition to the largely unexplored Department of Caquetá in Colombia, researchers from the National University of Colombia surprisingly discovered a species of titi monkey new to science. Formally described as the Caquetá titi monkey (Callicebus caquetensis), this enigmatic monkey is only known from a small area of around 100 square kilometres, and is thought to be one of the world’s most critically endangered primates, clinging to a precarious existence as its vulnerable forest habitat dwindles.

The discovery was made by the researchers Thomas Defler, Marta Bueno and Javier García, with aid from Conservation International’s Primate Action Fund, and is described in the journal Primate Conservation. It had long been suspected that the titi monkeys in this region differed from others, but due to the presence of insurgent armed guerrillas, who were in conflict with the Colombian government, for many decades it was impossible to travel to Caquetá and check the monkeys’ identity. However, in 2008, after a lull in the violence, Javier García was able to travel to the upper Caquetá River, where he observed 13 groups of the titi monkey in the wild, and also found two captive individuals in a local village, with their identity later confirmed as a new species to science.

The Caquetá titi monkey resembles a number of other titi monkeys, with dense, soft, reddish and greyish-brown fur, but can be distinguished by its lack of white hands and feet, and greyish hairs on the forehead instead of a white bar. It inhabits dense, low forests of small, thin, broadleaved trees and bushes of no more than 10 to 15 metres height. However, the destruction of these forests for timber has reduced the Caquetá titi monkey’s habitat to just tiny fragments. To reach new forest patches, it must now cross areas of grassland intersected by barbed wire fences, making it highly vulnerable to predation and hunting.

There are perhaps as few as 250 Caquetá titi monkeys left in the wild, meaning there is a high risk of it becoming extinct in the near future. At present, none of its habitat is protected, making it crucial that efforts are urgently made to publicise the presence of the Caquetá titi monkey, and to create reserves to protect this extremely rare primate and what little remains of its habitat.

To find out more about the discovery of the Caquetá titi monkey, see:

  • Defler, T.R., Bueno, M.L. and García, J. (2010) Callicebus cacquetensis: A new and critically endangered titi monkey from Southern Caquetá, Colombia. Primate Conservation, 25: 1-9.

For more information on conservation in Colombia, see:

Explore more of Colombia's threatened species on ARKive



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