The white-faced saki monkey, the scientific name Pithecia pithecia, referred to as the Guianan Saki and the golden-faced saki, is a species of the New World saki monkey. They are often present in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
White-faced saki monkey profile
This white-faced saki monkey species lives within the understory and decreases the cover of the forest, feeding totally on fruits, nuts, seeds, and bugs.
Though they’re arboreal creatures and are specialists of swinging from tree to tree (brachiation), they’re additionally terrestrial when foraging.
White-faced sakis sometimes stay around 14 years of their pure habitat and have been recorded to stay as much as 36 years in captivity.
Sakis are energetic within the day and sleep extremely elevated (15-20m) in timber with many leaves to shelter them from climate and flying predators.
White-faced saki monkey Geographic Range
White-faced sakis (Pithecia pithecia) are situated in Brazil and distant elements of Venezuela.
Their vary additionally encompasses most of French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname.
They stay alongside the Cuyuni river basin, east of the Caroni River, and south of the Orinoco River.
White-faced saki monkey Reproduction and Sexual Dimorphism
In captivity, feminine white-faced sakis expertise ovarian cycles of roughly 17 days, and a gestational interval of 20–21 weeks.
Following the start, the mom undergoes an interval of lactationally-induced infertility lasting 23 weeks, on common.
White confronted sakis breed yearly (within the spring) and solely have one offspring.
White-faced sakis show noticeable sexual dimorphism of their coloration and likewise in measurement.
Females have shorter hair than males, with brownish-grey fur and white or pale brown stripes across the corners of the nostril and mouth.
Males, however, have blacker fur, with a reddish-white brow, face, and throat.
Their faces are a lot whiter than females and males are bigger in physique measurement. Males are roughly 500 grams heavier than females.
Younger saki males are sometimes recognized as females due to their typically “grizzling” dorsal hair and orangish bellies and it’s roughly 2 months of age when men and women being to indicate variations, though it progressively turns into apparent over a couple of years.
Physical Description
White-faced sakis exhibit sexual dimorphism, with bigger males, and sexual dichromatism. Males have a black coat with white fur that surrounds their faces.
Feminine sakis have a shorter, brownish-gray coat with two vertical traces from their eyes to their nostril.
Females may additionally have orange-brown colored fur that emerges across the chest space and continues all the way down to their stomachs.
At start males and grownup, females are very comparable in look. A gradual shade change over 3.5 to four years happens, by which male sakis change into all black with vivid white faces.
Sakis have lengthy bushy tails, that are used for steadiness whereas leaping from tree to tree. The tails aren’t used for greedy objects or branches.
Common grownup mass is 1.eight kg; nevertheless, a slight sexual dimorphism separates males (2.38 kg) from females
White faced saki monkey Habitat
White-faced sakis are arboreal and stay in each upland and lowland rainforest.
Though they’ll inhabit very moist and really dry forests, they like areas with an abundance of fruit timber and watering holes.
This species is commonest at cover heights of 15 to 25 m. They can even spend time foraging on the bottom and at low ranges within the understory foliage (3 to 15 m).
In a single-day sleeping area sometimes are bigger timber within the cover with a wealth of foliage for canopy.
White-faced saki monkey Behavior
A pair usually mates for all times, and they’re very devoted to 1 one another.
They are going to strengthen their bond by grooming each other.
Male saki monkeys are normally extra energetic than females. They’re thought-about monogamous, however have seldomly been noticed over a protracted time frame and lots of primatologists query their conduct as being “typical monogamy” due to their inconsistent group numbers and attainable seasonal impact on congregations.
A South American examination carried out by Shawn M. Lehman reveals that their group quantity can vary from 2-12 group members, with larger numbers sometimes occurring (however not solely) in Guyana, South America.
However, most widespread observations conclude that the journey in small teams of two and three which normally embody the bonded dad and mom and the offspring; they journey roughly 0.5 to 1.25 miles in quest of meals or different assets in the course of the early morning and day when they’re most energetic.
Lifespan/Longevity
In the wild, white-faced sakis have been recognized to stay about 15 years.
One wild-caught saki in captivity lived to the age of 36, spending over 28 of those years in captivity.
Locomotion
White confronted sakis fluctuate from many different primates together with their shut relative, Chiropotes satanas, in that they’re predominantly leapers, which is how they journey roughly 70 % of the time.
The opposite 30 % is spent quadrupedal strolling and operating (25 %) and climbing (lower than 5 %).
White faced saki monkey Diet
These primates journey longer distances than many different primates and may be choosy about their sources of meals; they like timber that produces excessive quantities of fruit, Capparis trees, and timber with water holes.
Sakis has a combined food plan of seeds, fruits, leaves, honey, flowers, bugs, and small mammals and birds and sometimes ingests seeds and crops which are excessive in lipid composition.
They’ve additionally been noticed crawling into hole parts of timber and consuming bats the place they roost.
They’re able to do so resulting from their massive canine teeth which helps in cracking the onerous outer overlaying of shells and nuts.
Home Range
Teams of sakis in Suriname have been recognized to make use of a comparatively small house vary of 10 hectares. Relocated teams make the most of a lot bigger house ranges, and experiences of 68 to 152 ha had been typical.
These sakis will mark and defend their territory by a collection of actions. They are summarized as “scent gland (sternal/gular/anogenital) rubbing, urine-washing, and territorial calls and agonistic interactions, utilizing grunts, trills, branch, and body shake, piloerection, and quick pursuits to threaten and displace extra-group members.”
Communication and Notion
Sakis stay in small teams starting from 2 to four people; nevertheless bigger teams of 6 or extra have been reported and should embody multiple grownup breeding male or feminine.
To determine territory they’ve loud vocal calls normally carried out in duets of monogamous men and women.
These duets strengthen their courtship bond. Additionally, they socialize by grooming each other.
White-faced sakis will scent-mark a space. Males rub their chests on timber.
They normally select timber with edible fruit to excite females and to attempt to stimulate courtship conduct throughout the breeding season.
White-faced saki monkey Meals Habits
Sakis eat the seeds of fruiting our bodies. They spend 95 to 99% of the whole consumption time consuming and breaking open the seeds.
Year-round, they like to eat seeds 38 to 88% of the time. Leaves are additionally a vital supply of meals.
They eat the younger leaves of crops in the course of the dry season when fruits aren’t plentiful.
Given this food plan, their consumption of fat is extraordinarily excessive, however, their consumption of proteins is low.
Occasionally, they’ve been recognized to eat bugs and flowers when the fruit is scarce.
Predation
If a predator is close to, alarm calls, which have been noticed to final from 1.2 to 88 minutes, will probably be sounded by a preliminary saki after which regularly echoed by others to unfold the warning.
They are going to then puff they’re our bodies up and stomp their toes on the bottom of timber in an try to intimidate the risk.
They’re small primates and dwell within the branches of timber, so one in all their greatest predator threats are massive birds corresponding to hawks, vultures, and the harpy eagle.
Within the face of hazard, white confronted sakis will emit warning calls to others or freeze if within the cover in and try to maneuver down the place they’re out of sight.
The predator response of the sakis are resulting from what sort of risk they’re going through: if a smaller, simply overpowered risk, the group will take part in conduct referred to as “mobbing” to scare the predator away, but when the risk is bigger, corresponding to an eagle, they may chorus from warning calls and descend out of sight into the decreasing cover.
Different terrestrial and aquatic predators embody the tayra, jaguars, inexperienced anacondas, ocelots, red-tailed boa, and even massive mustelids, which are normally threats to the younger and aged.
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Conservation Status
This species shouldn’t be at the moment listed by IUCN and is of little concern for conservation managers.
Nevertheless, resulting from habitat destruction and pet commerce, this standing may change.
It’s listed in Appendix II of CITES, indicating that the species may change into threatened if commerce or import and/or export shouldn’t be regulated.
