Buffy Saki (Pithecia albicans)


MORPHOLOGY:
The tail of the buffy saki is not prehensile. The facial hair color is sexually dimorphic (Kinzey, 1997). The buffy saki has robust incisors and canines that it uses to break through the tough pericarp of fruit (Fleagle, 1988). This species is sexually dimorphic in terms of pelage color (Kinzey, 1997).

RANGE:
The buffy saki is found in the middle to upper levels of the forest, never reaching the ground (Johns, 1986).

ECOLOGY:
The buffy saki is primarily frugivorous, but seeds and nuts constitute a large part of diet. This species also consumes leaves and insects, especially ants. The fruits that this species consumes have hard pericarps (Kinzey, 1992).

LOCOMOTION:
The buffy saki moves through the forest both quadrupedally and by leaping (Fleagle, 1988). This species has been known to ‘bounce’ when moving, that is propulsion by all four limbs (Johns, 1986).

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR:
The buffy saki has a multimale-multifemale social system. Fleagle and Meldrum (1988) have suggested that this species lives in small groups that come together to form larger congregations. These groups of buffy sakis are described as closed social units (Soini, 1986). Males do groom their young (Kinzey, 1997).

VOCAL COMMUNICATION:
Duetting between the male and female is important in the maintaining of territorial boundaries and maintaining the social bond between pairs which are monogamous.

OLFACTORY COMMUNICATION:

VISUAL COMMUNICATION:

TACTILE COMMUNICATION:

REPRODUCTION:
The buffy saki gives birth to single offspring.

REFERENCES:
Burton, Frances. 1995. The Multimedia Guide to the Non-human Primates. Prentice-Hall Canada Inc.

Fleagle, John G. 1988. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press.

Fleagle, J.G. and Meldrum, D.J. 1988. Locomotor Behavior and Skeletal Morphology of Two Sympatric Pithecine Monkeys, Pithecia pithecia and Chiropotes satanas. American Journal of Primatology Vol. 16(3), 227-249.

Johns, A.D. 1986. Notes on the Ecology and Current Status of the Buffy Saki, Pithecia albicans. Primate Conservation Vol. 7, 26-29.

Kinzey, W.G. 1992. Dietary and Dental Adaptations in the Pitheciinae. American Journal of Physical Anthropology Vol. 88 (2), 499-514.

Kinzey, W.G. 1997. Pithecia. in New World Primates: Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. ed. Warren G. Kinzey, Aldine de Gruyter, New York.

Soini, P. 1986. A Synecological Study of a Primate Community in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, Peru. Primate Conservation Vol. 7, 63-71.

Last Updated: October 12, 2003.
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