Ecuadorian squirrel monkey

Ecuadorian squirrel monkey
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Cebidae
Genus: Saimiri
Species:
S. cassiquiarensis
Subspecies:
S. c. macrodon
Trinomial name
Saimiri cassiquiarensis macrodon
(Elliot, 1907)
Ecuadorian squirrel monkey range shown in orange

The Ecuadorian squirrel monkey (Saimiri cassiquiarensis macrodon) is a type of squirrel monkey. It had been considered a subspecies of the Guianan squirrel monkey, Saimiri sciureus, but was elevated to a full species, S. macrodon, based on a 2009 study by Carretero-Pinzón, et al.[1] Based on subsequent genetic research by Jessica Lynch Alfaro, et al it was again reclassified as a subspecies of Humboldt's squirrel monkey.[2][3][4]

The Ecuadorian squirrel monkey lives in the western Brazilian Amazon, as well as southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and northern and eastern Peru.[5] It lives in humid tropical and subtropical forest, preferring dense forest but able to live in secondary forest and disturbed forest as well.[5] It can live at elevations up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft), but where it has been studied in Ecuador it prefers elevations under 500 m (1,600 ft).[5]

The Ecuadorian squirrel monkey has a head and body length of between 25 and 32 cm (9.8 and 12.6 in) with a tail length between 34 and 44 cm (13 and 17 in).[5] Males weigh between 885 and 1,380 g (31.2 and 48.7 oz) and females weigh between 590 and 1,150 g (21 and 41 oz).[5] Its coloration is similar to that of the Guianan squirrel monkey but its fur is darker.[5]

  1. ^ Carretero-Pinzón, X.; Ruiz-García, M.; Defler, T. (2009). "The Taxonomy and Conservation Status of Saimiri sciureus albigena: A Squirrel Monkey Endemic to Colombia". Primate Conservation. 24: 59–64. doi:10.1896/052.024.0102. S2CID 85881653. Retrieved 2019-01-13.
  2. ^ Lynch Alfaro, J.W.; et al. (2015). "Biogeography of squirrel monkeys (genus Saimiri): South-central Amazon origin and rapid pan-Amazonian diversification of a lowland primate" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 82: 436–454. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.09.004. PMID 25305518.
  3. ^ "Primates of the Neotropics". IUCN Primate Specialist Group. September 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  4. ^ "Saimiri cassiquiarensis macrodon". Mammal Diversity Database. Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Mittermeier, Russell A.; Rylands, Anthony B. (2013). Mittermeier, Russell A.; Rylands, Anthony B.; Wilson, Don E. (eds.). Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Volume 3, Primates. Lynx. p. 393. ISBN 978-8496553897.