Notes on the taxonomy and distributions of the tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus, Cebidae) of South America

Abstract

A good understanding (categorization) of the diversity and distribution of the tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus) has proved to be extraordinarily intractable. Its lack is now hampering conservation efforts, for, despite them being, in general, wide-ranging and adaptable, their forests are being destroyed to the extent that many populations are now evidently seriously threatened. Conservation measures require that we know better their diversity not only to protect them in the wild but also to establish captive breeding programs. In this paper, we present some notes which resulted from our analysis of a recent published hypothesis regarding their systematics by C. P. Groves, in his influential synthesis Primate Taxonomy (2001). We are not presenting another hypothesis (taxonomy), but review aspects of some of the names and synonyms of Groves’ taxonomy, and briefly discuss its concordance with the results of a largely unpublished PhD thesis of tufted capuchin systematics completed by Cecília Torres de Assumpção in 1983.