Distribution, habitat and status of the white-coated titi monkey (Callicebus pallescens) in the Chaco - Chiquitano forests of Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Abstract

In order to review the distribution and status of the Chacoan or white-coated titi monkey in Bolivia, I examined 60 available records of Callicebus and the vegetation types where they occurred in southern Santa Cruz. Based on the color pattern of photographed individuals, their location and basic ecological data, I characterized the range of Callicebus pallescens as extending from the Río Parapetí, across most of the Kaa Iya Park up to the Pantanal of Rio Negro, and inhabiting semiarid Chaco forests (475 mm of rainfall) with tree-like cacti, dry transitional Chaco and Chiquitano forests (<625-800 mm), up to subhumid seasonally flooded riverine forests of the Pantanal (1,000 mm). In the subhumid and humid forests North of Kaa Iya and near Santa Cruz city, C. pallescens is replaced by the gray titi monkey C. donacophilus, which can be recognized by a darker and more contrasting color pattern. However, the geographic limit between the two species is poorly known and confounded by current deforestation. Likewise, the identity of Callicebus from the eastern Chiquitano forest and Pantanal in the Bolivia-Brazil border is also confusing and needs to be studied.