'New' saki monkeys: - a revision of Pithecia taxonomy

M

MikeG

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
The July 2014 issue of 'Neotropical Primates' contains a long article by Laura Marsh entitled "A Taxonomic Revision of the Saki Monkeys, Pithecia Desmarest, 1804".
In a major upheaval of this genus's taxonomy, Marsh concludes there are no less than 16 species: five 'original' species, three species elevated from subspecific rank, three historic species reinstated, and five newly described species.
The list of species is as follows:
Pithecia pithecia (White-faced Saki)
P. chrysocephala (Golden-faced Saki)
P. hirsuta (Hairy Saki)
P. milleri (Miller's Saki)
P. monachus (Monk Saki)
P. inusta (Burnished Saki) = described in 1823, but previously lumped
into P. monachus.
P. cazuzai (Cazuza's Saki) new species
P. aequatorialis (Equatorial Saki)
P. napensis (Napo Saki)
P. isabela (Isabel's Saki) new species
P. albicans (Buffy Saki)
P. irrorata (Gray's Bald-faced Saki)
P. vanzolinii (Vanzolini's Bald-faced Saki)
P. mittermeieri (Mittermeier's Tapajos Saki) new species
P. rylandsi (Rylands' Bald-faced Saki) new species
P. pissinattii (Pissinatti's Bald-faced Saki) new species
The article includes photos of all 16 species.
 
Thank you for sharing MikeG ! Sounds very intresting and makes my list of "animals still to see" even longer !
 
The author of the paper states: "In the current worldwide captive population I suspect that most of the 'white-faced sakis' are likely hybrids; the most common being P. pithecia males (or a hybrid male) housed with a P. chrysocephala female." There is a photograph of such a pairing at Elmwood Park Zoo, Pennsylvania.
However, given that P. chrysocephala is a Brazilian taxon, and the tight restrictions on export of Brazilian fauna in recent times, I wonder if this rather pessimistic view of the captive population is valid. Surely most (all?) of the founder stock of captive Pithecia pithecia would have come from the Guianas.
 
I share your opinion MikeG. In the time the founder-stock was optained, zoos bought a pair of a species and I think it is unlogical if the dealers obtained only males from one county and females from another country so I guess most original pairings have been pure-bred pairs.
 
Thank you very much MikeG ! Had a quick look at it and from the photos most pairs of White-faced sakis I've seen sofar ( mainly in the Netherlands ) are real White-faced sakis !
 
MikeG said:
The author of the paper states: "In the current worldwide captive population I suspect that most of the 'white-faced sakis' are likely hybrids; the most common being P. pithecia males (or a hybrid male) housed with a P. chrysocephala female." There is a photograph of such a pairing at Elmwood Park Zoo, Pennsylvania.
However, given that P. chrysocephala is a Brazilian taxon, and the tight restrictions on export of Brazilian fauna in recent times, I wonder if this rather pessimistic view of the captive population is valid. Surely most (all?) of the founder stock of captive Pithecia pithecia would have come from the Guianas.
Click to expand...

It seems a bit illogical to suggest that most WF Sakis are hybrids, and then go on to state that the most common hybrids are pure males of one species housed with a female of another species. Where are the pure animals coming from if the population is mostly hybrid???

I agree this view seems pessimistic and unhelpful, hopefully they can test genetically or morphologically for species-status on captive sakis to figure out what is really out there.
 
zooboy28 said:
It seems a bit illogical to suggest that most WF Sakis are hybrids, and then go on to state that the most common hybrids are pure males of one species housed with a female of another species. Where are the pure animals coming from if the population is mostly hybrid???
Click to expand...

in the article it says:
The problem was perpetuated with live animals in captivity up through the 1960s where the males of P. pithecia were often placed with males of P. monachus because monachus was considered “the female” and pithecia “the male” (C.P. Groves, pers. comm.). In the current worldwide captive population I suspect that most of the “white-faced sakis” are likely hybrids; the most common being P. pithecia males (or a hybrid male) housed with a P. chrysocephala female (Fig. 1).
Click to expand...

Then there is a photo with the caption "Figure 1. A mixed, breeding pair at Elmwood Park Zoo: P. chrysocephala female and P. pithecia male. Photo Elmwood Park Zoo."

I couldn't see any other references to it, so I think the statement of mixed- and hybrid-pairs was based just on photos of animals looking like one or the other. It doesn't seem to make sense on the face of it.
 
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