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Species, subspecies, or color morphs? Reconsidering the taxonomy of Callicebus Thomas, 1903 in the Purus–Madeira interfluvium

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Abstract

There have been recent disagreements as to how many taxa of titi monkeys, genus Callicebus, occur in the region between the Purus and Madeira rivers in western Brazilian Amazonia. Three parapatric taxa were proposed for the area: Callicebus caligatus, Callicebus stephennashi, and Callicebus dubius, but the latter has recently been considered a synonym of C. caligatus, even though both form monophyletic groups and are morphologically distinct. We analyzed the geographic variation in the pelage of Callicebus occurring between the Madeira and Purus rivers and concluded that the phenotypes attributed to C. caligatus and C. dubius are not individual morphs, but rather well-marked and geographically restricted varieties. For this reason, we classify Callicebus caligatus as a polytypic species with two subspecies: Callicebus caligatus caligatus and Callicebus caligatus dubius. This classification is corroborated by molecular evidence as well. The morphological and distributional data indicate that Callicebus stephennashi is a hybrid form of C. c. caligatus and C. c. dubius, due to the presence of intermediate characters. Therefore, until more precise locality records are provided and further evidence is presented, we consider Callicebus stephennashi to be a homonym of the two parental forms.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the curators and staff of the visited collections: Maria Nazareth da Silva and Ronnezza Campos (INPA); José de Souza e Silva Jr. and Suely Marques-Aguiar (MPEG); Juliana Gualda-Barros and Mario de Vivo (MZUSP), and Fernando Perini (UFMG). We thank Bruce Patterson (FMNH); Alexander Bibl and Frank Zachos (NHMW); Daniela C. Kalthoff (NRM); Malu Messias and Nichollas Magalhães (UNIR); Cleuton Miranda and Marcélia Basto (MPEG) for the specimen pictures. Hugo Fernandes-Ferreira and Fabio Schunck provided valuable pictures of live animals. Our thanks to Cindy Hurtado and The Writing Center (Towson University) for the English review. We would like to thank Fabio Oliveira do Nascimento, Henrique C. costa, Alfred Gardner and Mario de Vivo for discussions on the subject, and Barbara Rossi for the drawings. Finally, we thank Alfred L. Rosenberger and the other anonymous reviewer who provided valuable comments and suggestions. All authors received financial support from the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES).

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Correspondence to José Eduardo Serrano-Villavicencio.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Specimens examined: N = 23.

Callicebus caligatus caligatus (N = 11). Amazonas: Arumã: NRM 621162. Borba: NHMW B3738 (lectotype of Callithrix caligata). Igarapé do Bacana: INPA 4032. Itaboca: NRM 621196. Lábrea: NRM 621254. Lago do Canabouca: MNRJ 2469. “Manaus” (bought at Manaus): MZUSP 11722. Manaquiri: NHMW 7596/ST112. Redenção: NRM 621168. BR-230, KM-41: MPEG 22011, MPEG 22012.

Callicebus caligatus dubius (N = 8). Amazonas: Canutama: individual photographed by Fabio Schunck. “Lago Aiapuá:” FMNH 38886 (holotype of Callicebus dubius). Rondônia: E. E. Antonio Mujica Nava, Porto Velho: MZUSP 35460. UHE Jirau, Porto Velho: MZUSP 35461; individual photographed by Hugo Fernandes-Ferreira. UHE Santo Antonio, Porto Velho: UFMG 3951, UFRO 403, UFRO 544.

C. c. caligatus × C. c. dubius (=Callicebus stephennashi) (N = 4). Amazonas: Between Rio Purus/Mucuím and Rio Ipuxuna/Madeira: INPA 4030 (holotype of Callicebus stephennashi), INPA 4267, INPA 4268, INPA 4269 (paratypes of Callicebus stephennashi).

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Serrano-Villavicencio, J.E., Vendramel, R.L. & Siniciato Terra Garbino, G. Species, subspecies, or color morphs? Reconsidering the taxonomy of Callicebus Thomas, 1903 in the Purus–Madeira interfluvium. Primates 58, 159–167 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-016-0555-x

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