Ringtail Capuchins (Cebus capucinus): White-Headed Monkeys of Central and South America

Capuchin monkeys are so called due to the imaginations of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century European explorers in what is now Central and South America. Sailors and soldiers sent by the husband-and-wife team of Queen Isabella I (April 22, 1451 – November 26, 1504) of Castile and Leon and King Ferdinand II (March 10, 1452 – January 23, 1516) of Aragon, Castile, Leon, Sicily and Valencia as well as by the mother-and-son team of Queen Joanna (November 6, 1479 – April 12, 1555) of Aragon, Castile and Leon and King Charles I (February 24, 1500 – September 21, 1558) of Spain -- get credit for correlating the monkey’s appearance with a head-and-shoulders hooded capelet. The word for the headgear in Spanish is capucha.

The white-colored manifestation of the ancient headgear historically functions as signature attire of Tuscan hermits in central-western Italy. The usage is honored in all-white head-to-foot habits for the Benedictine religious order founded in 1012 by Saint Romuald (951? – June 19, 1027) at Camaldoli hermitage and Fonte Buono. It is linked most commonly with the Friars Minor Capuchin. The autonomous Franciscan order originates in reforms -- symbolized by re-adopting the hood-sewn tunic of Saint Francis of Assisi (September 26, 1182 - October 3, 1226) -- ideated by Matteo Serafini da Bascio (1495 – August 6, 1552) in central-eastern Italy’s Diocese of Fermo and approved by Pope Clement VII (May 26, 1478 – September 25, 1534) in 1525, 1526, and 1528.

Since 2011, two genera accommodate capuchin monkeys. Genetic research published by Jessica Lynch Alfaro acknowledges differences between gracile and robust capuchins. Gracile and robust capuchins appear to diverge -- following the creation of the Amazon River -- from a common ancestor about 6,200,000 years ago. Robust capuchins of the Atlantic Forest -- running from northeastern Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte southward into northern Argentina and southwestward into eastern Paraguay -- belong to the genus Sapajus. Structural differences compound the gracile monkey’s different geography north of the Amazon River. Gracile monkeys continue membership in the genus Cebus. They display:

• Longer limbs;
• Rounder skulls.

They lack:

• Male beards and tufts;
• Sagittal crests ridging in two the top of the skull.

The Sapajus genus accepts as species the following:

• Black-capped apella;
• Black-horned nigritus;
• Black-striped libidinosus;
• Blond-bodied flavius;
• Golden-bellied xanthosternos.

The Cebus genus accounts for the species described as:

• Urubu-Ka’apor Indian kaapori;
• Weeper olivaceus;
• White-fronted albifrons;
• White-headed capucinus.

White-headed capuchins carry the additional common names of:

• Capucin moine in Caribbean and Guianan French;
• Gorgona, ringtail, white-faced, and white-throated capuchin in English;
• Macaco prego de cara branca in Brazilian Portuguese;
• Maicero, mico, mono capuchino/carablanca in Spanish;
• Ruyak machin in Runa Simi (Quechua);
• Witschouderkapucijnaap in Caribbean and Surinamese Dutch.

They differ from fellow Cebus genus members in:

• Being the only capuchin monkey to claim native residence in Central America;
• Coiling their prehensile tails over their backs in patterns reminiscent of rings. 

Ringtail capuchins boast the following features:

• Black or brown bodies and tails;
• Human-like feet and hands with respectively opposable big toes and thumbs;
• Pink or white faces with dark brows or patched fur;
• White- or yellow-furred chest, neck, shoulders, throat, and upper arms.

Females can be 25% smaller than males. Adult dimensions fluctuate around:

• 12.99 – 19.49 inches (33 – 49.5 centimeters) for head-and-body lengths;
• 15.55 – 21.26 inches (39.5 – 54 centimeters) for tail lengths;
• 3.09 – 10.80 pounds (1.4 – 4.9 kilograms) for weight.

Breeding seasons for males mating with multiple females go year-round. Births nevertheless peak between the late dry season and the early rainy, from December to April. Five- or six-month gestation periods produce one newborn or occasional twins.

Females are sexually active year-round even though births generally result every 2 years. They back-pack, feed and instruct their newborns until the weaning age of 2 – 4 months. Their offspring become independent in foraging, movement and survival skills at age 4 – 8 years. A female is deemed sexually mature at ages 4 – 7 years even though a male matures at ages 7 – 10 years. Every 4 years thereafter, a male leaves one alpha male-dominated group for another. The female never leaves the 15- to 30+-member group into which she is born. Female and male ringtail capuchins may live as long as 30 years in the wild. They may survive as long as 45 – 55 years in captivity. 

Ringtail capuchins defend 80+-hectare (0.8-square mile) home ranges against predation by:

• Caimans (Caiman crocodilus);
• Harpy eagles (Harpia harpyja);
• Jaguars (Panthera onca);
• Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis);
• Snakes (especially lanceheads [Bothrops asper] and tree boas [Corallus annulatus, C. ruschenbergerii]).

They effectively depend upon:

• Alarm-calling sentries;
• Fist- and stick-pummeling warriors;
• Parthian volley-wielding retreaters.

They never drop their guard, even when applying 32 sharp teeth -- 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars per lower and upper left and right jaws -- to diets of:

• Baby coatis and squirrels;
• Bird eggs;
• Bromeliad-retained water;
• Fresh crabs, frogs, lizards, slugs and snails;
• Ground- and tree-dwelling ants, beetles, caterpillars and wasps;
• Ripened fruit juices and pulps (especially figs and mangos);
• Young flowers, leaves and seeds.

Noisy hunts, lessons, meals and recreation are conducted at ground-level or in treetops by all four subspecies:

• Cebus capucinus capucinus in Colombia, Ecuador and Panama;
• C.c. curtus in Gorgona Island, Colombia;
• C.c. imitator in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama;
• C.c. limitaneus in Honduras.

All subspecies members surely epitomize adaptability and agility. For example, they escape and hide within seconds because of skills at:

• Climbing;
• Problem-solving and tinkering;
• Running;
• Swimming.

They favor close-canopied, super-humid, well-drained forests at elevations of 3,608.92 – 6,889.76 feet (1,100 – 2,100 meters). They nevertheless flourish in:

• Coastal plains;
• Deciduous, degraded, evergreen, or secondary-growth forests;
• Insular environments in the Caribbean at Roatán, Lake Nicaragua at Ometepe, and the Pacific at Coiba, Gorgona, and Jicarón;
• Volcanic foothills. 

Each ringtail capuchin monkey subspecies benefits from protected areas in every country within the species’ range. A combination of ecological reserves, forest reserves, international parks, national natural parks, national parks, natural monuments, nature reserves, protected forests, and wildlife refuges confer upon ringtail capuchin monkeys 24/7 access to prime locations totaling 1,647,750+ hectares (16,477.5+ square kilometers) worth of land in:

• Colombia;
• Costa Rica;
• Ecuador;
• Honduras;
• Panama.

The availability of lush, spacious protected areas represents a first step in keeping ringtail capuchins safe from fur-and-meat hunters and pet traders. It serves as a viable role model for sustaining such obligate forest-regenerators, population-controllers, and seed-dispersers as all four subspecies of the ringtail capuchin monkey of Central and northwestern South America. 

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Parque Nacional Cahuita (Cahuita National Park), south Caribbean coast, Costa Rica: Christian Mehlführer (Chmehl), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MC_Weissschulterkapuziner.jpg

Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts), Buenos Aires, Argentina: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francisco_de_Zurbarán_-_Meditation_of_St_Francis_-_WGA26054.jpg

Black capuchin (Sapajus nigritus cucullatus) in Florianópolis, Brazil: Alexandre Pedron, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sapajus_nigritus_cucullatus_(southern_form)_2.jpg; via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/gynoug/6945338045/

"clase de biología": Carlos Luna, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/31991771@N00/3976804022/

Costa Rica: James Joel (jamesjoel), CC BY-ND 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/98701585@N02/9267142565

photo by Tom Smylie/US Fish and Wildlife Service-Southwest Region, Albuquerque, New Mexico: US Fish and Wildlife Service Digital Library, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ocelot.jpg

Volcán Concepción, northwestern Ometepe, from Volcán Maderas, southeastern Ometepe, looking across the isthmus: Moody751, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ometepe_Panorama.jpg

white-faced capuchin monkey: Alan Huett (AlanH2O), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/8113229@N04/2823139749

Christmas eve visit, Costa Rica: "monkey on your back": Steve Jurvetson (jurvetson), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/44124348109@N01/6575208659/

Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio (Manuel Antonio National Park), Pacific coast, Costa Rica: Steven G. Johnson (Stevenj), CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cebus_capucinus,_Costa_Rica.JPG

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