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Uncertainty Regarding Species Delimitation, Geographic Distribution, and the Evolutionary History of South-Central Amazonian Titi Monkey Species (Plecturocebus, Pitheciidae)

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Abstract

Platyrrhine primate taxonomy is a rapidly evolving area of research. The recent description of the Parecis titi monkey, Plecturocebus parecis, has raised substantial questions regarding the taxonomy, distribution, and evolutionary history of titi taxa from south-central Amazonia. There is only a single documented record of P. parecis, which is the type locality, with uncertainty regarding species monophyly. Moreover, there are questions surrounding the distribution and pelage patterns of the poorly studied P. cinerascens and P. parecis, which further highlight the uncertainty regarding the taxonomic validity of this new species. Here, we investigate the taxonomy, distribution, and evolutionary history of these lineages through new field work and assessment of pelage pigmentation patterns from 25 localities, as well as maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic reconstructions based on two mitochondrial and 11 nuclear loci for 19 and 10 specimens of Plecturocebus, respectively. Our mitochondrial results recover a paraphyletic arrangement for the four P. parecis type specimens that show three distinct haplotypes, with the holotype showing a close affinity to P. bernhardi. Our morphological analysis reveals a north–south clinal bleaching gradient through the Aripuanã-Sucundurí/Juruena interfluve from an all-grayish morphotype associated with P. cinerascens, through intermediary morphotypes with increasingly whitish hairs on the beard, hands, feet, and tail, to the most whitish morphotype described as P. parecis. Based on these findings, we present hypotheses to explain the taxonomy, distribution, and evolutionary history of P. cinerascens and P. parecis and discuss the significance of introgression among titi taxa from southern Amazonia given the lack of study systems for natural hybridization in platyrrhine primates.

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Acknowledgments

R Costa-Araújo was funded and supported by CNPq (140039/2018-1; 316321/2020-6), CAPES (001; 88881.189052/2018-01), Conservation Leadership Programme (F02304217), Global Wildlife Conservation’s Margot Marsh Primate Action Fund (6002856), CAPES/PRO-AMAZONIA/AUXPE (3261/2013), and Idea Wild, and is especially grateful for field support from the team of Secretaria Estadual de Meio Ambiente do Amazonas at Manaus and Apuí, the team of ONF Fazenda São Nicolau, José de Sousa e Silva Jr, Raimundo Rodrigues da Silva, Gustavo Canale, Fabiano R. de Melo, Catitu and Ivan Baptista da Silva. This study was financed, in part, by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. We thank Fabio Rohe for the use of his samples in the molecular analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Hazel Byrne

  2. Mastozoology collection, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil

    Rodrigo Costa-Araújo

  3. Laboratory of Evolution and Animal Genetics, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil

    Rodrigo Costa-Araújo, Izeni P. Farias & Tomas Hrbek

  4. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil

    Maria N. F. da Silva

  5. Department of Ecology, Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR), Porto Velho, Brazil

    Mariluce Messias

  6. Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Tomas Hrbek

  7. School of Science, Engineering and the Environment, University of Salford, Manchester, UK

    Jean P. Boubli

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  1. Hazel Byrne
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  2. Rodrigo Costa-Araújo
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  4. Maria N. F. da Silva
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Contributions

HB and RCA originally conceived the ideas. HB performed the laboratory work and molecular analyses. RCA raised funds, carried out field expeditions, prepared specimens, and performed the morphological analysis. HB and RCA interpreted the molecular and morphological results. MM carried out field expeditions and contributed specimens for the molecular analyses. MNFS assisted in collecting field and morphological data. HB and RCA led the writing. TH, JPB, and IF raised funds and contributed to the design of the project and writing of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the article.

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Correspondence to Hazel Byrne.

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Byrne, H., Costa-Araújo, R., Farias, I.P. et al. Uncertainty Regarding Species Delimitation, Geographic Distribution, and the Evolutionary History of South-Central Amazonian Titi Monkey Species (Plecturocebus, Pitheciidae). Int J Primatol 45, 12–34 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-021-00249-9

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