New Species

(Neotropical Primates 10(1), April 2002, photo by Anselmo Fonseca). During a long-term field study of the black-headed uacari monkey, Cacajao melanocephalus melanocephalus, I obtained strong evidence of bearded sakis (Chiropotes sp.) occurring in my study area in the Pico da Neblina National Park, Amazonas (Boubli, 1997, 1999). I first became aware of the possibility of bearded sakis there in 1991 when I noticed Yanomamis (the people that inhabit the park) from Maturacá (a large Yanomami settlement and Salesian Mission inside Pico da Neblina National Park, Fig. 2) wearing decorative headpieces made from their tails. Inquiring about the origins of the headpieces, I was told that bearded sakis could be found throughout the national park. They were, however, also reported to be rare in most areas of the park, although relatively more abundant to the east of the Rio Marauiá, which marks the eastern limit of Pico da Neblina National Park (Fig. 1). The Yanomamis I interviewed said that although bearded sakis could be seen in monospecific groups, they were more often found in mixed-species aggregations with black-headed uacaris. The presence of bearded sakis in the Pico da Neblina National Park was confirmed on 23 May 1995, when my two field assistants (locals from São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Fig. 2) observed a single female carrying an infant within my study site. Following a suggestion by Yanomamis from the lower Rio Marauiá, on my most recent survey, I took up my search again for bearded sakis around a small settlement known as “Sítio do José Maria”, on the left bank of the lower Rio Marauiá .

(Mol Phyl Evol, Volume 120, March 2018, Pages 170-182). The pygmy marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea, the smallest of the New World monkeys, has one of the largest geographical distributions of the Amazonian primates. Two forms have been recognized: Cebuella pygmaea pygmaea (Spix, 1823), and C. p. niveiventris Lönnberg, 1940. In this study, we investigated if the separation of pygmy marmosets into these two clades can be corroborated by molecular data. We also examine and compare coloration of the pelage in light of the new molecular results. We analyzed the mtDNA cytochrome b gene and, for the first time for any Neotropical primate, we used a reduced representation genome sequencing approach (ddRADseq) to obtain data for recently collected, geographically representative samples from the Rio Japurá, a northern tributary of the Rio Solimões and from the Javarí, Jutaí, Juruá, Madeira and Purus river basins, all tributaries south of the Solimões. We estimated phylogenies and diversification times under both maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference criteria. Our analysis showed two highly supported clades, with intraclade divergences much smaller than interclade divergences, indicating two species of Cebuella: one from the Rio Japurá and one to the south of Solimões. The interpretation of our results in light of the current taxonomy is not trivial however. Lönnberg stated that the type of Spix’s pygmy marmoset (type locality ‘near Tabatinga’) was obtained from the south of the Solimões, and his description of the distinct niveiventris from Lago Ipixuna, south of the Solimões and several hundred kilometres east of Tabatinga, was based on a comparison with specimens that he determined as typical pygmaea that were from the upper Rio Juruá (south of the Solimões). As such it remains uncertain whether the name pygmaea should be applicable to the pygmy marmosets north of the Rio Solimões (Tabatinga type locality) or south (near Tabatinga but across the Solimões). Finally, our analysis of pelage coloration revealed three phenotypic forms: (1) south of the Rio Solimoes, (2) Eirunepé-Acre, upper Juruá basin; and (3) Japurá. More samples from both sides of Solimões in the region of Tabatinga will be necessary to ascertain the exact type locality for Spix’s pygmaea and to resolve the current uncertainties surrounding pygmy marmoset taxonomy.