Callicebus moloch

16.

Red-bellied Tit

Callicebus moloch

French: Titi gris / German: Rotbauch-Springaffe / Spanish: Titi de vientre rojo

Other common names: Dusky Titi, Orabassu Titi, Red-bellied Titi Monkey

Taxonomy. Cebus moloch Hoffmannsegg, 1807,

vicinity of the state of Para. Restricted by P. Hershkovitz in 1963 to the right bank of the lower Rio Tapajos, district of Santarém, Para, Brazil.

C. moloch is the representative species of the moloch species group. Its distribution excludes Belém as the type locality, given that this city lies ¢.100 km east and north of the mouth of the Rio Tocantins, which is the definite eastern limit of the distribution of C. moloch. The recent description of a new titi species, C. vieirai, indicates that C. moloch is absent from the Xingu/Iriri interfluvium. Monotypic.

Distribution. Brazilian Amazon, S of the Rio Amazonas, between the Tapajos/Juruena system and the Tocantins/Araguaia river system to the E, in the Brazilian states of Para and Mato Grosso; the exact S limit ofits distribution is unclear, but it seems likely that it coincides with the transition between the Amazon rainforest and the cerrado savannas of C Brazil; this ecotone encompasses headwaters of the Xingu and Tapajos river systems in N Mato Grosso. Vieira’s Titi (C. vieirai) is also known to occur in this region, but there are too few records to confirm whether their distributions intergrade, or in fact where the exact limits of their distributions are. One recent study also found that the Red-bellied Titi may be absent from or present at extremely low densities in large areas of the Tocantins-Xingu interfluvium. Given the overall lack of records, while it is clear that the Red-bellied Titi occurs over a vast area of the SE Amazon Basin, the exact limits of its distribution within this area remain unclear.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 28.5-37.5 cm (males) and 27.2-43.4 cm (females), tail 41-51 cm (males) and 35-54.6 cm (females); weight 850-1200 g (males) and 700-1020 g (females). Male and female Red-bellied Titis are indistinguishable in size and coloration. Their heads, bodies, and limbs are buffy or grayish to pale brown agouti. Tail is lighter in color, with blackish to orange or buffy agouti banding, and is very pale, almost white, at the tip. Hands and feet are slightly lighter in color, but they do not contrast markedly with the rest of body. Underparts, ventral surface of limbs, throat, and sideburns are light orange to buffy-orange, contrasting strongly with the rest ofthe body.

Habitat. Lowland Amazon rainforest from close to sea level to ¢.300 m. Like other titis of the moloch group, the Red-bellied Titi occupies lower strata in the forest and appears to be relatively tolerant of habitat disturbance, being found in small, isolated forest fragments in many areas. There is some evidence, however, that its absence or low density in some areas, including large tracts of continuous forest, may be related to interspecific competition with other small platyrrhines, in particular callitrichids.

Food and Feeding. There is no information available for this species.

Breeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but all titis form monogamous breeding pairs. The male provides parental care by carrying the single offspring.

Activity patterns. There is no information available for this species.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List. The Red-bellied Titi is not normally hunted due to its small size, and itis buffered by the large size of its geographic distribution. Nevertheless, this area is suffering increasing encroachment from development projects such as highways, mines, and hydroelectric power stations. An additional problem is the lack of reliable data on its occurrence in this area, given that it may be absent (or extremely rare) from large tracts of forest. The Red-bellied Titi is nevertheless known to occur in large protected areas, such as Tapirapé Biological Reserve and Tapajos National Forest.

Bibliography. Ferrari & Lopes (1996), Ferrari, Bobadilla & Emidio-Silva (2007), Ferrari, Iwanaga, Messias et al. (2000), Ferrari, Iwanaga, Ravetta et al. (2003), Gualda-Barros et al. (2012), Hershkovitz (1988, 1990), Michalski & Peres (2005), Norconk (2011), Veiga & Ferrari (2008).