Saturday, August 28, 2010

COSTA RICA - White faced monkey



The White-headed Capuchin (Cebus capucinus), also known as the White-faced Capuchin or White-throated Capuchin, is a medium-sized New World monkey of the family Cebidae, subfamily Cebinae. Native to the forests of Central America and the extreme north-western portion of South America, the White-headed Capuchin is important to rainforestpollen. ecology for its role in dispersing seeds and

Among the best known monkeys, the White-headed Capuchin is recognized as the typical companion to the organ grinder. In recent years the species has become popular in North American media. It is a highly intelligent monkey and has been trained to assist paraplegic persons.It has a distinctive prehensile tail that is often carried coiled up and is used to help support the monkey when it is feeding beneath a branch. It is a medium-sized monkey, weighing up to 3.9 kg. It is mostly black, but with a pink face and white on much of the front part of the body, giving it its common name.

In the wild, the White-headed Capuchin is versatile, living in many different types of forest, and eating many different types of food, including fruit, other plant material, invertebrates, and small vertebrates. It lives in troops that can exceed 20 animals and include both males and females. It is noted for its tool use, including rubbing plants over its fur in an apparent use of herbal medicine, and also using tools as weapons and for getting to food. It is a long-lived monkey, with a maximum recorded age of over 54 years.


The White-headed Capuchin is found in much of Central America and a small portion of South America. In Central America, its range includes much of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. It has also been reported to occur in eastern Guatemala and southern Belize, but these reports are unconfirmed. In South America the White-headed Capuchin is found in the extreme north-western strip between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains in Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. It is among the most commonly seen monkeys in Central America's national parks, such as Manuel Antonio National Park, Corcovado National Park, Santa Rosa National Park and Soberania National Park.

It is found in many different types of forest, including mature and secondary forests, and including evergreen and deciduous forests, dry and moist forests, and mangrove and montane forests. However, it appears to prefer primary or advanced secondary forests. Also, higher densities of White-headed Capuchins are found in older areas of forest and in areas containing evergreen forest, as well as areas with more water availability during the dry season.


Scientific classification
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Mammalia
Order : Primates
Family : Cebidae
Genus : Cebus
Species : C. capucinus
Binomial name
Cebus capucinus
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Distribution of Cebus capucinus
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Postcard sent by Laura, as "LauraCR"
Private swap - Reference CR004

Mono cara blanca
White faced monkey
Singe capucin
(Cebus capucinus)

Muchas gracias

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