The Colombian white-faced capuchin ( Cebus capucinus), also known as the Colombian white-headed capuchin or Colombian white-throated capuchin, is a medium-sized New World monkey of the family Cebidae, subfamily Cebinae. It is native to the extreme eastern portion of Panama and the extreme north-western portion of South America in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador.
The Colombian white-faced capuchin was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Until the 21st century, the Panamanian white-faced capuchin, Cebus imitator, was considered conspecific with the Colombian white-faced capuchin, as the subspecies C. capucinus imitator.[ Some primatologists continue to consider the Panamanian and Colombian white-faced capuchins as a single species.][ In 2012 a study by Boubli, et al demonstrated that C. imitator and C. capucinus split up to 2 million years ago.][
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Two subspecies of Colombian white-faced capuchin are recognized:[
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C. c. capucinus, from mainland South America and Panama
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C. c. curtus, from the Pacific island of Gorgona, sometimes referred to as the Gorgona white-faced capuchin.
Like other monkeys in the genus Cebus, the Colombian white-faced capuchin is named after the order of Capuchin friars because the of these friars closely resemble the monkey's head coloration.[ The head and body length is between with a tail length of between .][ Males weigh between , while females are about 27% smaller, weighing between .][ C. c. curtus has a shorter tail.]
The white-faced capuchin is found in the extreme north-western strip between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains in Colombia and northwestern Ecuador.[
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C. c. capucinus has been listed as vulnerable from a conservation standpoint by the IUCN, while C. c. curtus has been listed as vulnerable.
