Abstract
Squirrel monkeys of the genus Saimiri are a distinct group of New World primates. They are easily recognized visually or by their vocalizations. Anatomically they have a number of peculiarities, such as an interorbital fenestra, a double brachioradialis muscle in the arm, and a prominent articulation between the calcaneus and navicular bones of the foot. These specializations suggest that squirrel monkeys have a long evolutionary history independent of other primates. This hypothesis is strengthened by the dearth of derived features shared with other New World primates. The search for the closest living relative of Saimiri (its sister group) has not led to convincing conclusions. Saimiri is commonly placed in the same subfamily with Cebus, as in the classifications of Pocock (1925), Simpson (1945), von Pusch (1942), and Rosenberger (1981). But Hershkovitz strongly dissents, and this classification is not in agreement with Ford’s analysis of the postcranial skeleton. Ford (1980) would link Saimiri more closely with Callicebus and Aotus. Hershkovitz (1977) separates it from all other cebids at the subfamily level. I presently adopt the same classification of Saimiri, as the sole member of the subfamily Saimirinae, but mine is a position of agnosticism. I am not convinced by any of the arguments to the contrary.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Allen, J. A., 1916, New South American mammals, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 35: 83–87.
Cabrera, A., 1958, Catalogo de los mamiferos de America del Sur, Rev. Mus. Argent. Cienc. Nat. Bernardino Rivadavia Cienc. Zool. 4(1): i-iv, 1–307.
Clemens, S., 1883, Life on the Mississippi [reprinted in: The Family Mark Twain (Harper, New York, 1935)].
Cooper, R. W., 1968, Squirrel monkey taxonomy and supply, in: The Squirrel Monkey ( L. A. Rosenblum and R. W. Cooper, eds.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 1–29.
D’Orbigny, A., 1834, Nouv. Ann. Mus. Paris 3: 89. [Not seen. As cited by Cabrera (1958)1.
D’Orbigny, A., 1835, Voyage dans l’Amerique meridionale… Atlas Zoologigue [Not seen. As cited by Cabrera (1958).]
Elliot, D. G., 1907, Descriptions of apparently new species and subspecies of mammals belonging to the families Lemuridae, Cebidae, Callitrichidae, and Cercopithecidae in the collection of the Natural History Museum, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 7, 20: 185–196.
Elliot, D. G., 1913, A Review of the Primates, Volume 1, American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Fooden, J., 1966, Identification of the type specimen of Simia apedia Linnaeus, 1758, Mammalia 30: 507–508.
Ford, S. M., 1980, A systematic revision of the Platyrrhini based on features of the posteranium, Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, I., 1845, Description des mammifères nouveaux ou imparfaitement connus de la collection du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelles, Arch. Mus. Paris 4: 5–42.
Haffer, J., 1969, Speciation in Amazonian forest birds, Science 165: 131–137.
Hershkovitz, P., 1972, The Recent mammals of the Neotropical region: A zoogeographic and ecological review, in: Evolution, Mammals, and Southern Continents ( A. Keast, F. C. Erk, and B. Glass, eds.), State University of New York, Albany, pp. 311–431.
Hershkovitz, P., 1977, Living New World Monkeys (Platyrrhini), Volume I, Chicago University Press, Chicago.
Hershkovitz, P., 1983, Two new species of night monkeys, genus Aotus (Cebidae, Platyrrhini): A preliminary report on Aotus taxonomy, Am. J. Primato. 4: 209–243.
Hill, W. C. O., 1960, Primates, Comparative Anatomy and Taxonomy. IV. Cebidae. Part A, Interscience, New York.
Holmes, A., 1964, Principles of Physical Geography, Ronald Press, New York.
Humboldt, A. de 1811–1812, in: Recueil d’observations de zoologie et d’anatomie comparée, faites dans l’ocean atlantique, dans l’interieur du nouveau continent at dans la mer du sud pendant les années 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802 et 1803,Volume 1 (A. de Humboldt and A. Bonpland, eds.), Paris.
Lesson, R.-P., 1840, Species des mammifères: Bimanes et quadrimanes; suivi d’un mémoire sur les Oryctéropes, Paris.
Linnaeus, C., 1758, Systema Naturae… Tomus I. Regnum Animalium,10th ed., reformed, Holm.
Lönnberg, E., 1940, Notes on some members of the genus Saimiri, Ark. Zool. 32A(21): l-18.
MacLean, P. D., 1964, Mirror display in the squirrel monkey, Saimiri sciureus, Science 146: 950–952.
Mayr, E., 1963, Animal Species and Evolution, Harvard University Press. Cambridge.
Mayr, E., 1982, Of what use are subspecies?, Auk 99: 593–595.
Mayr, E., Linsley, E.G., and Usinger, R. L., 1953, Methods and Principles of Systematic Zoology, McGraw-Hill, New “ork.
Müller, P., 1973, The Dispersal Centres of Terrestrial Vertebrates in the Neotropical Realm, W. Junk, The Hague.
Osgood, 1916, Mammals of the Collins-Day South American expedition, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ. Zool. Ser. 10: 199–216.
Pocock, R. I., 1925, Additional notes on the external characters of some platyrrhine monkeys, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1925: 27–47.
Reinhardt, J., 1874, Et Bidrag til Kundskab om Aberne i Mexiko og Centralamerika, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk. Natruhist. Forens. 1872: 150–158.
Rosenberger, A., 1981, Systematics: The higher taxa, in: Ecology and Behavior of Neotropical Primates ( A. F. Coimbra-Filho and R. A. Mittermeier, eds.), Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, Rio de Janeiro.
Simpson, G. G., 1945, The principles of classification and a classification of mammals, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 85: i-xvi, 1–350.
Simpson, G. G., Roe, A., and Lewontin, R. C., 1960, Quantitative Zoology, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York.
Tate, G. H. H., 1939, The mammals of the Guiana Region, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 76: 151–229.
Thomas, O., 1902, New forms of Saimiri, Oryzomys, Phyllotis, Coendou,and Cyclopes, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 7 10: 246–250.
Thomas, O., 1904, New forms of Saimiri, Saccopteryx, Balantiopteryx,and Thrichomys from the Neotropical Region, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 7 13: 250–255.
Thomas, O., 1908, Four new Amazonian monkeys, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 8 2: 88–91.
Thomas, O., 1911, The mammals of the tenth edition of Linnaeus; An attempt to fix the types of the genera and the exact bases and localities of the species, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1911: 120–158.
Thomas, O., 1927a, The Godman-Thomas expeditio to Peru. V. On mammals collected by Mr. R. W. Hendee in the province of San Martin, N. Peru, mostly at Yurac Yacu, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 9 19: 361–375.
Thomas, O., 1927b, The Godman-Thomas expedition to Peru. VI. On mammals from the upper Huallaga and neighboring highlands, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 9 20: 594–608.
Thomas, O., 1928, The Godman-Thomas expedition to Peru. VII. The mammals of the Rio Ucayali, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 10 2: 249–265.
Thorington, R. W., Jr., 1976, The systematics of New World monkeys, in: First Inter-American Conference on Conservation and Utilization of American Non-human Primates in Biomedical Research, pp. 8–18, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, D. C.
Vanzolini, P. E., 1973, Paleoclimates, relief, and species multiplication in equatorial forests, in: Tropical Forest Ecosystems in Africa and South America: A Comparative Review (B. J. Meggers, E. S. Ayensu, and W. D. Duckworth, eds.) Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C., pp. 255–258.
von Pusch, A., 1942, Die Arten der Gattung Cebus, Z. Saugetierkhd. 16 (volume for 1942): 183–237.
Wagner, J. A., 1848, Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Säugethiere Amerikas. Dritte Abtielung. Vierte Ordnung. Affen. Abh. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. München 5: 405–480.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1985 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Thorington, R.W. (1985). The Taxonomy and Distribution of Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri). In: Rosenblum, L.A., Coe, C.L. (eds) Handbook of Squirrel Monkey Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0812-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0812-7_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-0814-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-0812-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive