Geographic Range
Yellow-handed titis are found in lowland forests around the Amazon, Orinoco, Rio Maranon,
and Guianas rivers in the northern part of their range, and south to the Rio Puru.
- Biogeographic Regions
- neotropical
Habitat
Yellow-handed titis are found in tall, mature, un-flooded forests. They prefer forests
on nutrient-deficient, white sand soils.
- Habitat Regions
- tropical
- terrestrial
- Terrestrial Biomes
- forest
- rainforest
- Other Habitat Features
- riparian
Physical Description
Yellow-handed titis have reddish brown to black fur covering most of their bodies,
white marks on their faces, black legs, feet, and forearms, buff-colored hands, and
brown to black non-prehensile tails. They are the biggest of all
Callicebus
species, with a head-body length of 339 mm and a tail length of 460 mm. In some parts
of their range rare individuals have a reduction in melanin pigment, creating a creamish
colored fur.
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- heterothermic
- bilateral symmetry
Reproduction
Yellow-handed titis are apparently monogamous, travelling as a bonded pair with their
offspring up to three years old.
- Mating System
- monogamous
General reproduction information is difficult to find for yellow-handed titis. In
the related species, dusky titis (
C. moloch
), one young is born at about 70 grams, with births in the wild occurring from December
to April. Gestation length in dusky titis is 5 to 6 months, and young are nursed for
12 to 16 weeks. Dusky titis have an interbirth interval of one year.
- Key Reproductive Features
- iteroparous
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- viviparous
Males of species in the genus
Callicebus
are reported to lead group movements, searching for food, and often care for infants
when they aren't nursing from their mothers. Information specific to yellow-handed
titis is not available.
- Parental Investment
- altricial
-
pre-fertilization
- provisioning
-
protecting
- female
-
pre-hatching/birth
-
provisioning
- female
-
protecting
- female
-
provisioning
-
pre-weaning/fledging
-
provisioning
- female
-
protecting
- male
-
provisioning
-
pre-independence
-
protecting
- male
-
protecting
- post-independence association with parents
- extended period of juvenile learning
Lifespan/Longevity
No information on the longevity of yellow-handed titis in the wild or in captivity was found.
Behavior
Yellow-handed titis are diurnal and arboreal rainforest primates. The majority of
their feeding time is in the early morning, by the middle of the day they have a long
resting session. After that they have another feeding period followed by a search
for a sleeping tree before dusk.
Territorial groups of two to seven members are led by an adult male. That adult male
leads all group movements, carries infants when they are not nursing, and searches
for food trees.
- Key Behaviors
- arboreal
- scansorial
- diurnal
- crepuscular
- motile
- sedentary
- territorial
- social
Home Range
Callicebus torquatus
has a home range of nearly 20 hectares.
Communication and Perception
Callicebus
species use a wide variety of vocalizations and visual signals for communication.
Individuals also intertwine their tails when they sit side by side. Like most mammals,
chemical signals are also important, helping to identify individuals and reproductive
states.
Food Habits
Yellow-handed titis eat mainly fruits and seeds, although they will also eat leaves
and insects. About 70% of feeding time is spent on eating or finding fruits and seeds.
Troop members almost always eat the same foods at the same food trees. Feeding bouts
occur 2 to 5 times a day, usually in the morning, late morning, and afternoon.
- Animal Foods
- insects
- Plant Foods
- leaves
- seeds, grains, and nuts
- fruit
Predation
No information on predators of yellow-handed titis was found. Masked titis (
C. personatus
), a closely related species, is preyed on by birds of prey, felids, and snakes.
Ecosystem Roles
Yellow-handed titis help to disperse seeds of the fruits that they eat. They may also be important prey for some predators.
- Ecosystem Impact
- disperses seeds
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Yellow-handed titis are important members of their forest ecosystems, helping to maintain tree regeneration through seed dispersal. They may also help to attract ecotourism money to local areas.
- Positive Impacts
- ecotourism
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
There are no adverse effects of yellow-handed titis on humans.
Conservation Status
Yellow-handed titis are listed on CITES Appendix II list and are considered Least
Concern by the IUCN. The greatest threat to these monkeys is habitat destruction.
Additional Links
Contributors
Tanya Dewey (editor), Animal Diversity Web.
Dan Wildeck (author), University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Chris Yahnke (editor, instructor), University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
- Neotropical
-
living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- tropical
-
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
- terrestrial
-
Living on the ground.
- forest
-
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- rainforest
-
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
- riparian
-
Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream).
- endothermic
-
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
- heterothermic
-
having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- monogamous
-
Having one mate at a time.
- iteroparous
-
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- viviparous
-
reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.
- altricial
-
young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.
- arboreal
-
Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.
- diurnal
-
- active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
- crepuscular
-
active at dawn and dusk
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- sedentary
-
remains in the same area
- territorial
-
defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement
- social
-
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- ecotourism
-
humans benefit economically by promoting tourism that focuses on the appreciation of natural areas or animals. Ecotourism implies that there are existing programs that profit from the appreciation of natural areas or animals.
- herbivore
-
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
- frugivore
-
an animal that mainly eats fruit
- granivore
-
an animal that mainly eats seeds
References
Eisenberg, J., K. Redford. 1999. Mammals of the neotropics: the central neotropics . Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Kinzey, W. 1977. Diet and feeding behavior of Callicebus torquatus. Pp. 127-151 in Primate Ecology . London: Academic Press.
Macdonald, D. 2001. Yellow-handed titi. Pp. 350 in Encyclopedia of Mammals , Vol. 1, 1 Edition. New York: Barnes and Noble Inc.
Muller, K., C. Alh, G. Hartmann. 1997. Geography in masked titi monkeys. Primates , 38(1): 69-77.
Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's primates of the world . Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
Rylands, A., M. Bampi, A. Chiarello, G. da Fonseca, S. Mendes, M. Marcelino. 2003. "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species" (On-line). Accessed November 03, 2006 at http://www.redlist.org/ .