Callicebus melanochir (Wied-Neuwied, 1820)

Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Phitheciidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 432-483 : 471

29.

Southern Bahian Tit

Callicebus melanochir

French: Titi a mains noires / German: Grauer Maskenspringaffe / Spanish: Titi de manos negras

Other common names: Black-handed Titi, Coastal Black-handed Titi, Southern Bahian Masked Titi

Taxonomy. Callithrix melanochir Wied-Neuwied, 1820 ,

Morro d’Arara or Fazenda Arara, Bahia, Brazil.

In his 1990 review of the genus, P. Hershkovitz considered C. melanochir to be a subspecies of C. personatus . It was raised to species level by S. Kobayashi in 1995. C. melanochir is a member of the C. personatus species group. Contact zones may exist with distributions of C. barbarabrownae to the west and C. personatus to the south, although few data are available on the distribution of C. melanochir in this region. Monotypic.

Distribution. E Brazil (restricted to the coastal Atlantic Forest in E Bahia and N Espirito Santo states), from the Rio Paraguacu in the N to the region of the Rio Mucuri in the S, limited to the W by the transition with the semi-arid caatinga scrublands.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 33-37 cm (females), tail 39.5-51 cm (females); weight 1400 g (females). Measurements for male Southern Bahian Titis are not available, but it is likely that adult males and females are indistinguishable in size and coloration. Their bodies and tails are almost completely grayish-agouti or buffy brownish-agouti. Hands,feet, facial fringe outlining face, and ears are blackish. Back and base of tail are variably washed with reddish brown.

Habitat. Primary and disturbed coastal Atlantic Forest from close to sea level to elevations of ¢.200-300 m. The Southern Bahian Titi appears to be quite tolerant of habitat disturbance and is able to inhabit isolated forest fragments.

Food and Feeding. The Southern Bahian Titiis frugivorous, with up to 90% of the diet consisting of fruit at one site in Bahia. Studies at two othersites in Bahia recorded diets consisting of 77-85% fruit (26-34% seeds), complemented with leaves (14-17%) and occasional consumption of other items such as flowers and insects.

Breeding. Adult Southern Bahian Titis form stable monogamous pairs, and the male is responsible for carrying the infant. Females give birth to a single infant after a gestation of ¢.5 months.

Activity patterns. The Southern Bahian Titi is diurnal and arboreal. Like othertitis,it spends a large part ofits time resting (40% of activity time in one study group), followed by traveling (32%) and foraging and feeding (27%). A relatively small proportion of its time is devoted to social behavior (1%).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Two groups of Southern Bahian Titis in southern Bahia occupied home ranges of 22 ha and 24 ha, with daily movements of 532-1539 m at one site. Groups of up to six individuals have been observed in the wild, invariably consisting of adult breeding pairs and their immature offspring.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. The Southern Bahian Titi is fully protected by Brazilian Law. It is threatened mainly by loss of habitat (only 5-10% of original forest cover remaining), which is increasingly fragmented. It occurs in a number of official protected areas, such as Pau Brasil National Park, and also in some large privately owned reserves in southern Bahia.

Bibliography. Ferrari et al. (2013), Flesher (1999), Heiduck (1997, 2002), Hershkovitz (1988, 1990), Kobayashi (1995), Kobayashi & Langguth (1999), Miller (1995, 1996a, 1996b), Muller & Pissinatti (1995), Mller et al. (1997), Norconk (2011), Oliver & Santos (1991), Printes et al. (2013), van Roosmalen et al. (2002), Veiga, Printes, Ferrari et al. (2008).

Figures

On following pages: 20. Madidi Titi (Callicebus aureipalatii); 21. Medem'’s Titi (Callicebus medemi); 22. White-collared Titi (Callicebus torquatus); 23. White-chested Titi (Callicebus lugens); 24. Yellow-handed Titi (Callicebus lucifen; 25. Rio Purus Titi (Callicebus purinus); 26. Rio Jurué Collared Titi (Callicebus regulus); 27. Black-fronted Titi (Callicebus nigrifrons); 28. Masked Titi (Callicebus personatus); 29. Southern Bahian Titi (Callicebus melanochir); 30. Blond Titi (Callicebus barbarabrownae); 31. Coimbra-Filho's Titi (Callicebus coimbral).

Distribution. E Brazil (restricted to the coastal Atlantic Forest in E Bahia and N Espirito Santo states), from the Rio Paraguacu in the N to the region of the Rio Mucuri in the S, limited to the W by the transition with the semi-arid caatinga scrublands.