The Taxonomic Status of Wied's Black-tufted-ear Marmoset, Callithrix kuhlii (Callitrichidae, Primates)

Abstract

In this paper we provide a description of Wied's black tufted-ear marmoset, or the Southern Bahian marmoset, Callithrix kuhlii Coimbra-Filho, 1985, from the Atlantic forest of southern Bahia in Brazil. It was first recorded by Prinz Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied during his travels in 1815–1816. Its validity was questioned by Hershkovitz (1977, Living New World Monkeys [Platyrrhini], Chicago University Press, Chicago), who considered it a hybrid of two closely related marmosets, C. penicillata and C. geoffroyi. Vivo (1991, Taxonomia de Callithrix Erxleben 1777 [Callitrichidae, Primates], Fundação Biodiversitas, Belo Horizonte), on the other hand, while demonstrating it was not a hybrid, argued that it was merely a dark variant of C. penicillata. We discuss a number of aspects concerning the taxonomic history of the forms penicillata, jordani, and kuhlii and the validity of the form kuhlii, examining the supposition that it may be a hybrid, besides the evidence concerning vocalizations, morphology, pelage, and ecology. We also discuss the use of the taxonomic category of subspecies to classify the different forms of the Atlantic forest marmosets, and the circumstances prevailing for the correct assignation of the authorship of the name kuhlii. We conclude that Callithrix kuhlii is a distinct and valid taxon, today restricted to the Atlantic forest between the Rio de Contas and Rio Jequitinhonha in southern Bahia, Brazil.