Mantled Howler

discussion

Only five of the seven subspecies recognized by Lawrence (1933) for A. palliata are currently accepted: A. p. mexicana, A. p. palliata, A. p. aequatorialis, A. p. coibensis, and A. p. trabeata. Lawrence (1933) commented on the difficulty in distinguishing the subspecies of A. palliata, with the exception of the Guatemalan (A. p. pigra) and the Coiba Island (A. p. coibensis) forms. Smith (1970), likewise, analyzed cranial and dental patterns, and pelage coloration of A. palliata, and concluded that the forms palliata, mexicana, coibensis, and trabeata were only weakly definable as subspecies. Froehlich and Froehlich (1986, 1987), however, analyzed patterns of dermal ridges of howler monkeys from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, and found that individuals from Coiba Island and the Azuero Peninsula were distinct from those of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the rest of Panama. They considered that differences in the dermal ridge patterns of the hands and feet were congruent with genetic distances, and that the difference found between coibensis / trabeata and palliata / aequatorialis groups was comparable to that of either of them and the South American howler monkey species. They, there

Howlec MonSeys Adaptive Radiation, Systematics, and Mocphology

distribution

This species ranges from southern Veracruz State in Mexico, south through Central America and the Pacific slopes of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador reaching the Tumbes region in northern Peru (Fig. 3.1).

Howlec MonSeys Adaptive Radiation, Systematics, and Mocphology

materials_examined

Type: Syntypes, adult female, skin and skull, No. 1848.10.26.1, and adult male, skin, 1848,10.26.2, British Museum (Natural History) (Napier 1976). Type locality: Nicaragua (shores of Lake Nicaragua).

Howlec MonSeys Adaptive Radiation, Systematics, and Mocphology

conservation

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I; U. S. ESA – Endangered; IUCN – Vulnerable as A. p. mexicana, otherwise Lower Risk (lc).

Order Primates