The Munduruku marmoset: a new monkey species from southern Amazonia

Abstract

Although the Atlantic Forest marmosets (Callithrix spp.) are among the best studied Neotropical primates, the Amazonian marmosets (Callibella humilis, Cebuella spp. and Mico spp.) are much less well-known. Even species diversity and distributions are yet to be properly determined because field data and materials currently available in scientific collections do not allow comprehensive taxonomic studies of Amazonian marmosets. From 2015 to 2018, we conducted 10 expeditions in key-areas within southern Amazonia where little or no information on marmosets was available. In one such region—the Tapajós–Jamanxim interfluve—we recorded marmosets with a distinctive pelage pigmentation pattern suggesting they could represent a new species. We tested this hypothesis using an integrative taxonomic framework that included phylogenomic data (ddRAD sequences), pelage pigmentation characters, and distribution records. We found that the marmosets of the northern Tapajós–Jamanxim interfluve have unique states in pelage pigmentation characters, form a clade (100% support) in our Bayesian and Maximum-Likelihood phylogenies, and occur in an area isolated from other taxa by rivers. The integration of these lines of evidence leads us to describe a new marmoset species in the genus Mico, named after the Munduruku Amerindians of the Tapajós–Jamanxim interfluve, southwest of Pará State, Brazil.

An integrative analysis uncovers a new, pseudo-cryptic species of Amazonian marmoset (Primates: Callitrichidae: Mico) from the arc of deforestation

“…We then carried out a path sampling analysis in BEAST2 focusing on M. argentatus, M. emiliae, and M. leucippe, whose phylogenetic relationships are unresolved according to our results and to a previous study 3 . The objective was to investigate if the observed lack of monophyly is compatible with incomplete lineage sorting, hybridization or the existence of polymorphic species, i.e.…”

“…There are 146 primate species and subspecies in Amazonia, representing 20% of the global primate diversity 1 and comprising the most diverse primate fauna in the world 2 . Nonetheless, primate diversity remains understudied in Amazonia, as manifested by regular discoveries of new species [3][4][5] . This incomplete taxonomic knowledge and the scarcity of basic ecological and distributional data for even well-known species is a major impediment to the design and implementation of effective conservation actions 6 .…”

“…Between 2015 and 2018, we conducted ten field expeditions across southern Amazonia to obtain new distribution records, specimens, and samples to overcome the previous scarcity of these materials and data in museums and in literature. The surveys consisted of trekking in the forest or canoeing up streams, while playing long-calls of M. marcai to stimulate vocalization and approximation of marmosets and increase detection probabilities 3 . For each observation we registered the exact location with a GPS device and the type of habitat.…”

“…S4) through the direct examination of 598 skins of specimens obtained in the field and stored in museums encompassing all known species of the genera Callibella and Mico (Supplementary Table S5). The chromogenetic fields are informative morphological characters because they summarize most of the variation in the pelage colouration and provide an objective basis for comparisons in marmosets 3,18 and other primates 4,18,33 . We also examined tegument colour on the face and ears, and hairiness of the ears to delimit supra-specific lineages as these characters are synapomorphies of four species groups of Phylogenomics.…”

Habitat suitability for primate conservation in north-east Brazil

“…Brazil is home to 115 species of non-human primates (Estrada et al, 2017; Costa-Araújo et al, 2019; IUCN, 2019), of which 21 occur in the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado and Caatinga biomes in the north-east. These three biomes have been extensively modified by centuries of anthropogenic forest destruction for the development of agriculture, infrastructure and urban areas.…”