Robust capuchin monkey
S. apella S. cayS. flaviusS. libidinosusS. macrocephalusS. nigritusS. robustusS. xanthosternos
Robust capuchin monkeys are capuchin monkeys in the genus Sapajus. Formerly, all capuchin monkeys were placed in the genus Cebus. Sapajus was erected in 2012 by Jessica Lynch Alfaro et al. to differentiate the robust (tufted) capuchin monkeys (formerly the C. apella group) from the gracile capuchin monkeys (formerly the C. capucinus group), which remain in Cebus.[1][2]
Based on the species and subspecies proposed by Groves in 2001 and 2005, robust capuchin monkey taxa include:[2][3]
S. flavius was only rediscovered in 2006.[2] The specific species and subspecies within Sapajus are not universally agreed upon.[1][4] For example, Silva (2001) proposed a slightly different species and subspecies split in which, for example Azara's capuchun, Sapajus libidinosus paraguayanus, is considered a separate species, Sapajus cay, as are the large-headed capuchin and the crested capuchin.[1][4]
Philip Hershkovitz and William Charles Osman Hill published taxonomies of the capuchin monkeys in 1949 and 1960, respectively.[1] These taxonomies included all robust capuchins, described then as the tufted group, in the single species Cebus apella, while three gracile (untufted) capuchin species were recognized.[1] Over time, the original C. apella was split into the additional species of robust capuchin monkeys recognized today. In 2001, Silva published a study in which he found greater genetic diversity among robust capuchins than among gracile capuchins.[1] Silva's study also concluded that due to the differences between robust and gracile capuchins, the two groups should at least be placed in separate subgenera within the genus Cebus, offering Sapajus as the subgenus name for robust capuchins.[1] After further studies of the morphology and genetics of the capuchin monkeys, Lynch Alfaro, Silva and Rylands proposed elevating Sapajus to a separate genus in 2012.[1]
The genetic studies led by Lynch Alfaro concluded that robust and gracile capuchin monkey genera diverged about 6.2 million years ago.[1][2] This is approximately the same time that humans and chimpanzees are believed to have diverged.[1][2] In contrast, capuchins diverged from their nearest common relative, squirrel monkeys, over 13 million years ago.[1] Lynch Alfaro suggested that the formation of the Amazon River may have caused the split that led to separation of robust and gracile capuchins.[1][2] The robust capuchins then evolved in the Atlantic forest, while the gracile capuchins evolved in the Amazon.[1][2]
_portrait.jpg/440px-Large-headed_capuchin_(Sapajus_macrocephalus)_portrait.jpg)
_portrait.jpg){kind=link}
