Cebus albifrons extends from northern coastal Colombia (C. a. malitiosus) along the northern slopes of the Sierra Santa Marta, south the Río Magdalena valley into the Department of Tolima (exact southern limit unclear) and the lower Río Cauca valley to the eastern parts of central Antioquia and southern parts of the Department of Sucre in the west (Hernández-Camacho and Cooper 1976; Defler 2004). It occurs in western Ecuador and extreme north-eastern Peru and from the eastern slopes of the Andes in Peru and Ecuador to the Venezuelan Amazon, south through eastern Peru, east to the Rio Tapajós in Brazil, and south into northern and central Bolivia.

Cebus albifrons albifrons. (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela)
In Colombia, Defler (2004) indicated that C. a. albifrons is the form occurring in the Department of Arauca (south of the Río Arauca) and also in Vichada between the ríos Meta and Tuparro. A population also occurs between the upper reaches of the ríos Vaupés and Isan in the Department of Vaupes (Hernández-Camacho and Cooper 1976). Its occurrence in other parts of central Colombia, east of the Cordillera Oriental is otherwise supposed but not yet ascertained. Cebus a. albifrons occurs throughout the Colombian Amazon north of the Rio Napo and east of the Río Ucayali in Peru south as far as right bank of the upper Río Purus (Aquino and Encarnación 1994). It occurs in the Venezuelan Amazon, south into Brazil into the states of Amazonas and Roraima, along the right (west) banks of the Rios Branco and Negro, and further east south of the Rio Amazonas as far as the Rio Tapajós, south through the Madeira-Tapajós interfluvium to the north-west Mato Grosso and northern Rondônia, extending south of the Madre de Dios, across the Río Beni basin to Río Mamoré-Guaporé to about 17ºS (Brown and Rumiz 1986; Anderson 1997). The range limits in the southern part of the distributions of C. a .cuscinus and C. a. albifrons are poorly defined.

Cebus albifrons cuscinus. (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)
This capuchin (here considered a senior synonym of C. albifrons yuracus, following Groves [2001]) occurs south of the Río Guamés in Colombia according to Hernández-Camacho and Cooper (1976) and Defler (2004). However, they place C. albifrons albifrons between the Rios Putumayo and Amazonas in the Colombian trapezium. Aquino and Encarnación (1994), on the other hand, regard the form between the Napo and Putumayo to be C. a. yuracus (= cuscinus). So, the identity of the White-fronted Capuchin between the Napo and Putumayo is confused. A provisional hypothesis would be that that, from the Rio Guamés, C. a. cuscinus south of the Rio Aguarico in Ecuador and south of the Río Napo as far as the Amazonas, in Peru. It extends south along the left (west) bank of the Río Ucayali, occurring along south (right) bank of the Purus to the Rio Acre and taking in the far north-west corner of Bolivia., north of the Río Madre de Dios (Brown and Rumiz 1986; Aquino and Encarnacíon 1994; Anderson 1997). The range limits in the southern part of the distributions of C. a .cuscinus and C. a. albifrons are poorly defined.

Cebus albifrons cesarae. (Colombia)
Cebus a. cesarae, is a well-defined, light coloured subspecies occurring in the Department of Magdalena, southward from Ciénaga Grande, and the lowlands of the Department of Cesar, right bank and north of the Río Magdalena as far as the west bank of the Río César, north to the deciduous and gallery forests of the Río Ranchería, Department of Guajira (Hernández-Camacho and Cooper 1976; Defler 2004).

Cebus albifrons malitiosus. (Colombia)
Central and northern Colombia. Deciduous and humid forests of the northern slopes of the Santa Marta Mountains at least as high as 1,300 m, although the eastern and southern limits of its range are not well defined (Hernández-Camacho and Cooper 1976; Defler 2004).

Cebus albifrons versicolor. (Colombia)
Cauca-Magdalena interfluvium, including the eastern parts of central Antioquia and southern parts of Sucre to the west. It extends north along the slopes of the northernmost reaches of the Cordillera Oriental and along the Serranía de Perijá, west of Lake Maracaibo, and east of Lake Maracaibo to the Serranía de Merida (Bodini and Pérez-Hernández 1987; Bodini 1989; Linares 1998). To the east of the Cordillera Oriental it occurs in Norte de Santander, and Santander (Hernández-Camacho and Cooper 1976; Defler 2004).

Cebus albifrons trinitatis. (Trinidad)
An isolated population on the Island of Trinidad.

Cebus albifrons aequatorialis. (Ecuador, Peru)
All of western Ecuador along the Pacific coast, extending into the Department of Tumbes in Peru (Encarnación and Cook 1998; Tirira and da la Torre 2001).

Cebus albifrons is found in northwestern South America, including Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, eastern Peru, and much of Amazonian Brazil (Hill, 1960).

Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )

Cebus albifrons is one of the smaller species of the capuchin group. The head is small in comparison to the body and the torso is slender with long, narrow limbs. C. albifrons has a complex color pattern. Overall they are light brown on the back with a lighter ventral side, often in shades of yellow and red. Dorsal fur is long and soft, which contrasts to the short and coarser fur of the venter. The crown of the head has a round, dark patch. Females may have a tuft of hair anterior to this patch. The face is covered by sparse, pale colored hair under which the peach colored flesh is visible. A thin border of white surrounds the face. A stripe, slightly darker than the body color, runs parallel to the spine. The limbs are a range of yellows and red browns. Sexual dimorphism occurs in the species with the males being larger than the females, the tail of the male may be lighter at the tip. Seasonal coat changes can occur; in the dry season, the coat is overall paler, in the rainy season the coat darkens (Hill, 1960).

Range mass: 1100 to 3300 g.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: male larger

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Terrestrial

White-fronted capuchins are found in rainforest habitats from sea-level to 2000 meters (Hill, 1960).

Terrestrial Biomes: rainforest

Fruit is the main food and is generally prefered over other available foods. C. albifrons occasionally eats insects or other small invertebrates. According to a year-long study in Peru's Manu National Park, white-fronted capuchins only seek out invertebrates when traveling to fruiting trees, or when droughts reduce fruit availability. Other food sources in times of drought include palm nuts, figs, and nectar. (Terborgh, 1992).

Animal Foods: insects

Plant Foods: seeds, grains, and nuts; fruit; nectar

Primary Diet: herbivore (Frugivore )

Average lifespan

Sex: female

Status: captivity: 40.5 years.

Average lifespan

Sex: male

Status: captivity: 25.0 years.

Average lifespan

Status: captivity: 44.0 years.

Average lifespan

Status: wild: 40.0 years.

Maximum longevity: 40.4 years (captivity) Observations: One captive specimen lived 40.4 years (Richard Weigl 2005). There is also one unverified claim of one animal of unknown sex living 44 years in captivity (Hakeem et al. 1996).

As in other Cebus species, C. albifrons does not appear to have a breeding season, though most births may coincide with the dry season (Nowak, 1991). Peak mating periods are determined by geographic location. Females in estrus actively respond to males who seek to mate. It appears that males may be able to detect females in estrus by chemical cues in her urine (Smuts et al., 1987).

Cebus albifrons gives birth to a single young every 1 to 2 years, with a gestation period of about 150 to 160 days. If the infant dies shortly after birth, the female mates in the next breeding season, but if the infant lives, the female postpones breeding an extra year in order to take care of the infant (Smuts et al., 1987).

Breeding interval: Cebus albifrons gives birth to a single young every 1 to 2 years

Breeding season: Peak mating periods are determined by geographic location.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Range gestation period: 150 to 160 days.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); viviparous

Average birth mass: 233 g.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

Sex: male: 1310 days.

Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

Sex: female: 1310 days.

Infant care is not restricted to the maternal female in C. albifrons. Other group members will come to the aid of infants in distress and dominant males often care for infants. When infants are under 2 months old other females care for, nurse, and feed them (Smuts et al., 1987).

Males disperse from their natal group upon reaching sexual maturity, females remain with their natal group.

Parental Investment: pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Male, Female); post-independence association with parents

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species. 

 
There are 2 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
 

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 2
Species: 2
Species With Barcodes: 1

Because they are restricted to rainforest habitats, populations of C. albifrons are threatened by habitat destruction due to logging and forest clearing. They are not currently endangered because their habitats continue to be fairly widespread and population numbers remain fairly high. White-fronted capuchins are also hunted for meat in some areas. While this hunting is not excessive and simply maintains the population at a slightly lower level, it is a potential threat (Smuts et al., 1987).

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: appendix ii

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Population

Population Trend

Major Threats

Conservation Actions

None known, Cebus albifrons do not raid human food crops.

White-fronted capuchins help to disperse the seeds of fruits they eat in their feces. This may carry propagules to an area that might not normally be reached, far from the perimeter of the tree. (Terborgh, 1992).