Content uploaded by Erwin Palacios
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Erwin Palacios
Content may be subject to copyright.
Neotropical Primates 14(3), December 2007
134
Schneider, E. C., Hunter, L. F. and Horwich, R. H. 1999.
Adoption of a young juvenile in black howler monkeys
(Alouatta pigra). Neotrop. Primates 7: 47–51.
Siegel, S. and Castellan Jr., N. J. 1988. Nonparametric Sta-
tistics for the Behavioral Sciences. McGraw-Hill, Boston.
Silver, S. C., Ostro, L. E. T., Yeager, C. P. and Horwich,
R. 1998. Feeding ecology of the black howler monkey
(Alouatta pigra) in northern Belize. Am. J. Primatol. 45:
263–279.
Stevenson, P. R., Quinones, M. J. and Ahumada, J. A.
1998. Effects of fruit patch availability on feeding sub-
group size and spacing patterns in four primate species
at Tinigua National Park, Colombia. Int. J. Primatol. 19:
313–324.
Strier, K. B. 1994. Brotherhoods among Atelins: Kinship,
affiliation, and competition. Behaviour 130: 151–167.
Strier, K. B. 1999. Why is female kin bonding so rare?
Comparative sociality of neotropical primates. In: Com-
parative Primate Socioecology, P. C. Lee (ed.), pp.300–319.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Strier, K. B., Dib, L. T. and Figueira, J. E. C. 2002. Social
dynamics of male muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides hy-
poxanthus). Behaviour 139: 315–342.
Treves, A. and Baguma, P. 2002. Interindividual proxim-
ity and surveillance of associates in comparative perspec-
tive. In: e Guenons: Diversity and Adaptation in African
Monkeys, M. E. Glenn and M. Cords (eds.), pp.161–172.
Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
Treves, A., Drescher, A. and Ingrisano, N. 2001. Vigi-
lance and aggregation in black howler monkeys (Alouatta
pigra). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 50: 90–95.
Wang, E. and Milton, K. 2003. Intragroup social relation-
ships of male Alouatta palliata on Barro Colorado Island,
Republic of Panama. Int. J. Primatol. 24: 1227–1243.
White, F. J. and Chapman, C. A. 1994. Contrasting chim-
panzees and bonobos: Nearest neighbor distances and
choices. Folia Primatol. 63: 181–191.
Zucker, E. L. and Clarke, M. R. 1998. Agonistic and affili-
ative relationships of adult female howlers (Alouatta pal-
liata) in Costa Rica over a 4-year period. Int. J. Primatol.
19: 433– 449.
D sa g u i n u s i n u s t u s (S,
1951) I C–
A R, C A
Claudia Idaly Castillo-Ayala
Erwin Palacios
Introduction
e Amazon bioregion is considered one of the highest bio-
diversity areas in the world. Primates are important com-
ponents of this biodiversity, and with 15 genera, 81 species
and 134 taxa, they are the most emblematic faunal group
of Amazonia (Mittermeier et al., 2002). Saguinus is per-
haps the most diverse of Neotropical primate genera, with
13–15 species and 33 recognized forms (Hershkovitz,
1977; Rylands et al., 2000). Defler (2003a) recognizes the
presence of six species of Saguinus in Colombia (40–46%
of the total species in the genus), three of them exclusively
distributed in the Colombian Amazon: S. fuscicollis (Spix,
1823), S. nigricollis (Spix, 1823), and S. inustus (Schwartz,
1951). Saguinus inustus, the mottled-face tamarin, is dis-
tributed in southeastern Colombia, west of the Andes,
between the Guayabero-Guaviare rivers and the Caquetá
River, and between the Mesay River and the border with
Brazil; however, accurate eastern and western boundar-
ies of its geographical range within the country are still
unknown (Defler, 2003a). e species is also present in
western Brazil, between the Rio Negro and the Colombian
border.
Saguinus inustus is one of the least-studied species of
Neotropical primates; preliminary information on its ecol-
ogy (ranging and diet) comes from only two short studies
carried out near La Pedrera, at Comeyafú Indigenous Re-
serve, an interfluvial area between the Caquetá and Apapo-
ris rivers (Palacios et al., 2004; Defler, unpublished data),
and from occasional observations of foraging groups in
the Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve in Brazil (de
Souza et al., 2004). Here we present the first data on the
density of S. inustus. We collected this information during
a primate survey in the lower Caquetá River as part of a
larger effort started six years ago to document and monitor
the densities of primates and 15 other large vertebrate spe-
cies in eastern Colombian Amazonia (Palacios et al., 2003;
Palacios and Peres, 2005; Peres and Palacios, 2007).
Methods
Study area
Censuses were carried out in the interfluvial area between
the lower Caquetá and Apaporis Rivers, Amazonas, near
Loma Linda indigenous community (01°16'S, 69°44'W,
101 m a.s.l.; Fig. 1), Córdoba Indigenous Reserve. Prima-
ry terra firme and várzea forests represented the majority
of the forested matrix in the study site. An area of second-
ary terra firme forest (locally called rastrojo) located around
the indigenous settlement comprised a small proportion
of such matrix. ere were also patches of what is locally
known as savanna forest or varillal, which corresponds to
primary forest with a mean height of 17–18 m, and a very
sparse understory growing on rocky outcrops and white
sands; and another savanna type known as sabana capo-
tuda, with a mean canopy height of 8 m, deep soil litter
and a very dense understory with intermingled vines and
lianas.
Linear transects
We used the line transect method (Burnham et al., 1980)
to estimate S. inustus densities. From a zero point lo-
cated ca. 100 m away from the community secondary
forest area, two transects (4.6 and 4.9 km long, oriented
40° NW and 40° NE respectively) were cut; they were
Neotropical Primates 14(3), December 2007 135
marked with flagging tape every 50 m to facilitate ac-
curate location of sightings. Transects were cut a month
before we started the censuses, so at the time of the study,
local fauna were already habituated to the transect paths.
e shortest transect crossed nearly 2 km of rastrojo,
1.1 km of varillal, and 1.5 km of primary terra firme ter-
race forest. e second transect crossed hilly primary
terra firme forest with sandy soils in the first half of its
length and clay soils in the second, as well as patches of
sabana capotuda.
Censuses were carried out during 10 days each month
between October 2005 and February 2006. Independent
observers walked the transects during days without rain at
a mean speed of 1.2 km/h, between 0630 and 1130 hrs.
Community members previously trained and able to accu-
rately detect and identify local primate species participated
in the surveys. Every time we encountered groups of S. in-
ustus, we recorded the date, time, number of individuals,
perpendicular distance from the transect, distance walked,
height and type of forest. After each encounter, a maxi-
mum of 15 minutes were spent to obtain accurate counts
of groups. Data were analyzed using DISTANCE 5.0 Beta
5 software (omas et al., 2005).
Results and Discussion
A total census effort of 380 km was achieved, during
which groups of S. inustus were sighted 33 times. Six ad-
ditional primate species are sympatric with S. inustus in
the lower Caquetá and Apaporis interfluvial area: Alouatta
seniculus, Aotus cf. vociferans, Callicebus torquatus, Cebus
albifrons, Cebus apella, and Saimiri sciureus. Although the
study site is included in the distribution range of Lago-
thrix lagothricha, this species was not recorded during the
survey period. People from Loma Linda said they have
never seen woolly monkeys in that area, and this is likely
to be a consequence of a long history of human settlement
and subsistence hunting in the region. L. lagothricha has
not been recorded recently in the lower interfluvium of
the Caquetá and Apaporis Rivers, east of the mouth of the
Mirití River (Palacios, pers. obs.), and the species is likely
to be locally extinct.
We estimated a S. inustus density of 3.8 groups / km²
and 19.6 individuals / km². Mean group size was 5.2 in-
dividuals (sd = 1.87). e mottled-face tamarin was one
of the primate species most frequently encountered after
C. torquatus and S. sciureus (Castillo-Ayala, in prep.).
Figure 1. e lower Caquetá region in Eastern Colombian Amazonia. Black square shows the area where censuses were carried out.
Neotropical Primates 14(3), December 2007
136
Mottled-faced tamarin density at Loma Linda is in the
range of that reported for other Saguinus species in nine
different localities in western Amazonia (Soini, 1981;
Freese et al., 1982; Pook and Pook, 1982; Terborgh, 1983;
Peres, 1997), but high compared with those reported for
S. fuscicollis at some sites in eastern Colombian Amazonia
(3.4–16.9 individuals / km²: Palacios et al., 2003; Palacios
y Peres, 2005; Palacios, unpublished data). In contrast,
S. fuscicollis densities in three other sites in eastern Co-
lombian Amazonia (Caño Arapa and Caño Esperanza,
Puré National Park, and Caño Curare) were much higher
(21.5, 26.5, and 30.3 individuals /km² respectively; Pala-
cios, unpubl. data) than those found for S. inustus at Loma
Linda. Mean group size is in the range recorded for other
species of Amazonian Saguinus; for example, S. fuscicol-
lis showed a group size range of two to eight individuals
(Freese, 1975; Soini, 1981; Janson and Terborgh, 1985).
During the first month of censuses, 75% of the S. inustus
sightings were in secondary forest, while in the second and
third months the situation reversed, with 70% and 62.5%
of the sightings in primary terra firme forest. During the
last month of surveys the proportion of sightings of the
species was similar for both types of forest (53.8% pri-
mary vs. 46.2% secondary). e preference for secondary
forest during the first month of surveys may be a result
of higher fruit availability of various species of Inga in the
rastrojos. e sweet arils of Inga have been noted as one of
the most consumed resources by the mottled-face tamarin
(Palacios et al., 2004). S. inustus may show resource use
patterns similar to other species of Saguinus; for example,
S. fuscicollis usually forages on one or a few species of plants
during consecutive days until no more fruits are available
(Defler, 2003a). is may be the case with Inga fruits; other
primates such as red howlers also concentrate their forag-
ing efforts in particular Inga fruit patches until crops are
depleted (Palacios, unpublished data).
Based on occasional observations, Defler (2003a) suggest-
ed the possibility that S. inustus could be more abundant
in secondary forests near indigenous settlements than in
primary forests. Snowdon and Soini (1988) reported that
some species of Saguinus, among them S. nigricollis, attain
higher densities in secondary forests. Palacios et al. (2004)
observed the presence of S. inustus in both types of forests;
Defler (2003a) believes that S. geoffroyi may have the same
habitat preferences, and that S. fuscicollis seems to be the spe-
cies of Saguinus with the more diverse habitat use, as this
species uses primary forests as well as highly disturbed ones.
S. inustus at the Caquetá–Apaporis interfluvium used an
approximately equal proportion of primary and secondary
forest (51.16% and 48.8% respectively). Fourteen percent of
the sightings of S. inustus in primary forest corresponded to
sabana capotuda habitat with characteristics that this species
usually prefers; in a different study related to the ecology of
the species, S. inustus regularly used portions of forest with
dense understory (Castillo-Ayala, unpublished data). Fur-
thermore, 85.7% of the encounters with groups of S. inustus
in secondary forest corresponded to rastrojo alto with a very
dense understory. ese preferences have been reported for
other species of Saguinus; for example, Emmons and Feer
(1999) mention that S. fuscicollis, S. nigricollis and S. bicolor
often can be seen in habitats with high densities of lianas.
is first density estimate of S. inustus provides important
data, but supplemental information from other areas of
the Caquetá–Apaporis interfluvium will be necessary in
order to assess the conservation status of the species in this
region. e forests around the community of Loma Linda
still offer appropriate habitats for the conservation of the
species, including secondary forests at different succes-
sional stages, and a large proportion of primary forest. e
forest matrix in the lower Caquetá and Apaporis interflu-
vium corresponds mainly to indigenous reserves (Palacios
et al., 2004), which support a large indigenous population
that is increasing due to high birth and immigration rates.
As a consequence, the need for new housing and croplands
will continue to increase, transforming significant areas of
primary forest. New surveys and ongoing studies on the
ecology of the mottled-face tamarin will contribute to a
better knowledge of its density in the Caquetá–Apaporis
interfluvium, and will provide more data to help determine
their forest type preferences, how they cope with habitat
transformation, and the conservation strategies that need
to be implemented with local communities to preserve this
interesting primate.
Acknowledgements
anks to Conservation International – Colombia and the
Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation for funding the
field work. We also thank Angel Yucuna, chief of Loma
Linda indigenous community for facilitating logistical sup-
port. Nolberto Neira, Oscar Yucuna “Turí”, José Angel
Rodríguez Macuna, Jarviz Rodríguez, Elisban Rodríguez,
Benedicto Neira and Enesilda Yucuna helped in conduct-
ing the censuses.
Claudia Idaly Castillo-Ayala, Conservation International
Colombia, Cra. 13 No. 71 - 41, Bogotá, Colombia, e-mail:
<clauscas@hotmail.com> and Erwin Palacios, Conservation
International – Colombia and Estación Biológica Caparú,
e-mail: <epalacios@conservation.org>.
References
Barnett, A., Borges, S., Castilho, C., Neri, F. and Shapley,
R. 2002. Primates of the Jaú National Park, Amazonas,
Brazil. Neotrop. Primates 10(2): 65–70.
Cardoso da Silva, J. M. and Conway, D. 1996. Application
of parsimony analysis of endemicity in Amazonian bio-
geography: An example with primates. Biol. J. Linnaean
Soc. 59: 427–437.
CITES. 2001. Lista de especies. Una referencia a los Apén-
dices de la Convención sobre el Comercio Internacio-
nal de Especies Amenazadas de Fauna y Flora Silvestres.
Neotropical Primates 14(3), December 2007 137
Secretaría de la CITES/PNUMA Centro de Monitoreo
de la Conservación Mundial. Unwin Brothers, Martins
Printing Group, Old Woking, Surrey. APENDICES I,
II y III adoptados en la 11a Conferencia de las Partes y
vigentes a partir del 18 de septiembre de 1997 (versión
corregida: agosto de 2002).
De Souza, L., Queiroz, H. L. and Ayres, J. M. 2004. e
mottled-face tamarin, Saguinus inustus, in the Amanã
Sustainable Development Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil.
Neotrop. Primates 12(3): 121–122.
Defler, T. R. 2003a. Primates de Colombia. Serie de Guías
Tropicales de Campo. Conservación Internacional Co-
lombia, Bogotá.
Defler, T. R. 2003b. Densidad de especies y organización es-
pacial de una comunidad de primates: Estación Biológica
Caparú, Departamento del Vaupés, Colombia. In: Prima-
tología del Nuevo Mundo, V. Pereira, F. Nassar and A. Savage
(eds.), pp.21–37. Fundación Araguatos, Bogotá D. C.
Freese, C. 1975. A census of non-human primates in Peru.
In: Primate Censusing Studies in Peru and Colombia.
Report to the National Academy of Sciences on Project
Amro-0719. Pan American Health Organization, Wash-
ington, DC.
Freese, C. H., Heltne, P. G., Castro, R. N. and Whitesides,
H. 1982. Patterns and determinants of monkey densities
in Peru and Bolivia, with notes on distributions. Int. J.
Primatol. 3: 53–90.
Hershkovitz, P. 1977. Living New World Monkeys (Platyr-
rhini) with an Introduction to Primates, Vol. 1. e Uni-
versity of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Heymann, E. W., Encarnación, F. and Canaquin, J. E.
2002. Primates of the Río Curaray, northern Peruvian
Amazon. Int. J. Primatol. 23(1): 191–201.
Janson, C. H. and Terborgh, J. W. 1985. Censando primates
en el bosque lluvioso con referencia a la Estación Biológi-
ca de Cocha Cashu, Parque Nacional del Manú, Perú. In:
Reporte Manú, M.A. Rios (ed.). Centro de Datos para la
Conservación, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina,
Lima.
Mittermeier, R. A., Goettsch, C., Robles, P., Pilgrim, J.,
Fonseca, G. A. B. da, Brooks, T. and Konstant, W. R.
2002. Áreas Silvestres: Las Últimas Regiones Vírgenes del
Mundo. Conservation International y Agrupación Sierra
Madre, México D. F.
NRC (National Research Council). 1981. Techniques for
the Study of Primate Population Ecology. National Acad-
emy Press, Washington, DC.
Palacios, E., Alarcón, G. and Rodríguez, A. 2003. Densida-
des de Vertebrados y Patrones de Cacería en el Suroriente
de la Amazonia Colombiana. Informe final a la Funda-
ción para la Promoción de la Investigación y la Tecnolo-
gía del Banco de la República, Bogotá D.C.
Palacios, E., Rodríguez, A. and Castillo, C. 2004. Prelimi-
nary observations on the mottled-face tamarin (Saguinus
inustus) on the lower Río Caquetá, Colombian Amazo-
nia. Neotrop. Primates 12(3): 123–126.
Palacios, E. and Peres, C. A. 2005. Primate population
densities in three nutrient-poor Amazonian terra firme
forests of Southeastern Colombia. Folia Primatol. 76:
135 –145.
Peres, C. A. 1997. Primate community structure at twenty
western Amazonian flooded and unflooded forests.
J. Trop. Ecol. 13: 381–405.
Peres, C. A. 1999. General guidelines for standardizing
line–transect surveys of tropical forest primates. Neotrop.
Primates 7(1): 11–16.
Pook, A. G. and Pook, G. 1982. Polyspecific association
between Saguinus fuscicollis, Saguinus labiatus, Callimico
goeldii and other primates in north-western Bolivia. Folia
Primatol. 38: 196–216.
Rylands, A. B., Schneider, H., Langguth, A., Mittermeier,
R. A., Groves, C. P. and Rodríguez-Luna, E. 2000. An as-
sessment of the diversity of New World primates. Neotrop.
Primates 8(2): 61–93.
Soini, P. 1981. Informe de Pacaya no. 4: Ecología y dinámi-
ca poblacional del pichico Saguinus fuscicollis (Primates,
Callitrichidae). Unpublished report.
Snowdon, C. T. and Soini, P. 1988. e tamarins, genus Sa-
guinus. In: Ecology and Behaviour of Neotropical Primates,
Vol. 2, R. A. Mittermeier, A. B. Rylands, A. Coimbra-
Filho and G. A. B. da Fonseca (eds.), pp.223–298. World
Wildlife Fund–US, Washington, DC.
Terborgh, J. 1983. Five New World Primates: A Study in
Comparative Ecology. Princeton University Press, Princ-
eton, New Jersey.
omas, L., Laake, J. L., Strindberg, S., Marques, F. F. C.,
Buckland, S. T., Borchers, D. L., Anderson, D. R., Burn-
ham, K. P., Hedley, S. L., Pollard, J. H., Bishop, J. R. B.
and Marques, T. A. 2005. Distance 5.0. Release “x”1. Re-
search Unit for Wildlife Population Assessment, Univer-
sity of St. Andrews, UK.
N O R E
E R Ca l l i C e b u s
C i n e r a s C e n s (P, P)
Maurício de Almeida Noronha
Wilson Roberto Spironello
Dayse Campista Ferreira
Introduction
Spix (1823) first described the ashy black titi monkey
(Callicebus cinerascens) from a male specimen assumed to
have been collected along the Rio Iça near the border with
Peru, in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Van Roosmalen
and colleagues (2002) questioned the origin of this speci-
men, maintaining that as all subsequent records were for
the right bank of the Rio Madeira (Rylands, 1982; Her-
shkovitz, 1990; van Roosmalen et al., 2002), the type lo-
cality must be incorrect. During his taxonomic revision
of the genus Callicebus, Hershkovitz (1990) added three
valid localities for C. cinerascens, one on the right bank of
the Rio Aripuanã, and two on the right bank of the Rio
Roosevelt. Rylands (1982) observed the species along the
