Callicebus nigrifrons, Spix, 1823

Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Phitheciidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 432-483 : 470

27.

Black-fronted Titi

Callicebus nigrifrons

French: Titi a front noir / German: Schwarzstirn-Springaffe / Spanish: Titi de frente negra

Other common names: Black-fronted Titi Monkey, Northern Masked Titi

Taxonomy. Callithrix nigrifrons Spix, 1823 ,

type locality unknown. Restricted by P. Hershkovitz in 1990 to the Rio da Onca, Campos dos Goytacazes, in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.

In his 1990 review of the genus, P. Hershkovitz considered C. nigrifrons to be a subspecies of C. personatus . It was raised to species level by S. Kobayashi, who established the personatus species group in 1995. C. nigrifrons is a member of the C. personatus species group. Its geographic distribution may be limited to the east by the distribution of C. personatus , although it is unclear to what extent their distributions are in contact or intergrade with one another. To the north, C. nigrifrons may be limited by ecological factors inherent to the cerrado savannas of the central Brazilian Plateau, given that titis are absent from much of this biome. The Serra do Mar coastal range in Sao Paulo is the southernmost limit of the geographic distribution of the genus, and the highest latitude at which titis occur in the wild. Monotypic.

Distribution. SE Brazil (W Rio de Janeiro, much of Sao Paulo, and S Minas Gerais states), from the Parana/Parnaiba river system E to Mantiqueira and Espinhaco ranges, N to the upper Rio Sao Francisco, and S to the Rio Tieteé.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 30-39.5 cm (males) and 34.5-36 cm (females), tail 45-5—48 cm (males) and 49-50 cm (females); weight 1050-1650 g (males) and 1000-1600 g (females). Male and female Black-fronted Titis are indistinguishable in size and coloration. Their bodies are brownish or orange-brown agouti. Forehead, ears,sides of face, and chin are blackish, creating a distinct facial mask that contrasts with paler agouti of throat, sideburns, and crown. Throat and underparts are pale brownishagouti. Hands and feet are black, and tail is orange to rusty red-brown.

Habitat. Primary and disturbed Atlantic Forest from close to sea level to elevations of ¢.1000 m and neighboring areas of cerrado savanna woodland. The Black-fronted Titi appears to be quite tolerant of habitat disturbance and is able to inhabit isolated forest fragments, including at least one large fragment (Serra da Cantareira State Park) in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo.

Food and Feeding. Dietary data for Black-fronted Titis are now available from five different study sites in Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo. These titis are invariably highly frugivorous (43-74% of the diet), but they also eat relatively large quantities of leaves (56-33%) and flowers (11-24%). Arthropods are a minor proportion of their diets (0-4%) in all but one case (10%). This reflects occasional exploitation of this resource when available, which appears to be typical of the personatus group (the Masked Titi, C. personatus ; the Blond Titi, C. barbarabrownae, Coimbra Filho’s Titi, C. coimbraz, and the Southern Bahian Titi, C. melanochir ) and is possibly a systematic difference in the ecology of this group compared with Amazonian titis. While seeds did not appear to be a prominent component of diets in most cases, those of a mast-fruiting bamboo ( Merostachys fischeriana, Poaceae ) became a major component of the diets (mean of 32:3%) of four study groups at one site in Minas Gerais.

Breeding. Adult Black-fronted Titis form monogamous pairs, with the male participating actively in parental care primarily by transporting the infant.

Activity patterns. Behavioral data from three sites indicate that Black-fronted Titis are relatively active compared with othertitis, with only 29-35% oftheir activity time spent resting, while foraging and feeding accounted for 26-40%, moving 24-33%, and engaging in social behavior less than 6%.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Home ranges of four groups of Black-fronted Titis in Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo were 21-48 ha, which are the largest recorded for the genus. Daily movements for one of these groups were also the largest recorded to date for titis, with a mean of 1270 m/day and a maximum of 2697 m/day. Densities of 12-15 ind/km?® in some other large tracts of continuous forest were consistent with home ranges ofthis size, considering social groups of up to six individuals. Densities in some small fragments (80-100 ind/km?) indicate that home ranges and movements may be proportionally reduced, although more research is required to confirm such variation. Black-fronted Titis typically form small family groups of a breeding pair and their immature offspring, with groups of no more than six individuals being reported in the wild. Unusual behaviors were reported from one site in Minas Gerais, where a number of study groups are being monitored over the long term. One was the infanticide of a healthy, 3day-old infant by its mother, the motive for which remains unexplained. In another case, an infant moved from one group to a neighboring group, where it was “adopted” and cared for by group members, including the breeding female, which nursed it alongside her own offspring. This individual remained in the adoptive group for at least 19 months until it was almost fully grown. This unusual behavior was interpreted as a possible consequence of poorly developed infant recognition mechanisms in the Black-fronted Titi. It remains unclear to what extent these behaviors may have been the result of specific local circumstances or representative of more general patterns typical of the Black-fronted Titi and other members of the genus.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. While the Black-fronted Titi has the largest geographic distribution of any species in the personatus group species from eastern Brazil, this area coincides with this country’s most heavily populated region, and it is threatened primarily by habitat loss, with less than 10% of the original forest cover remaining in most areas. Ongoing habitat fragmentation and degradation are additional concerns in most areas and may have led to local extirpations, even where apparently adequate areas of forest are still available. The Black-fronted Titi occurs in a number of protected areas, most notably Serra da Cantareira State Park and the Serra do Mar reserve complex in Sao Paulo and Environmental Protection Area Sul in Nova Lima, Minas Gerais.

Bibliography. César & Young (2008), Casar et al. (2008), Caselli & Setz (2011), Chiarello & de Melo (2001), Hershkovitz (1988, 1990), Kobayashi (1995), Martins & Silva (1998), Neri (1997), Norconk (2011), Printes et al. (2013), Santana et al. (2008), Soares (2006), Souza et al. (1996), Stallings & Robinson (1991), Torres de Assumpcao (1983), Trevelin et al. (2007), Veiga, Kierulff et al. (2008).

Figures

On following pages: 20. Madidi Titi (Callicebus aureipalatii); 21. Medem'’s Titi (Callicebus medemi); 22. White-collared Titi (Callicebus torquatus); 23. White-chested Titi (Callicebus lugens); 24. Yellow-handed Titi (Callicebus lucifen; 25. Rio Purus Titi (Callicebus purinus); 26. Rio Jurué Collared Titi (Callicebus regulus); 27. Black-fronted Titi (Callicebus nigrifrons); 28. Masked Titi (Callicebus personatus); 29. Southern Bahian Titi (Callicebus melanochir); 30. Blond Titi (Callicebus barbarabrownae); 31. Coimbra-Filho's Titi (Callicebus coimbral).

Distribution. SE Brazil (W Rio de Janeiro, much of Sao Paulo, and S Minas Gerais states), from the Parana/Parnaiba river system E to Mantiqueira and Espinhaco ranges, N to the upper Rio Sao Francisco, and S to the Rio Tieteé.