User:Frozenbanana97/Golden-bellied capuchin

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The golden-bellied capuchin (Sapajus xanthosternos), also known as the yellow-breasted or buff-headed capuchin, is a species of New World or neotropical monkey. It lives mainly in trees and are omnivorous, eating a wide variety of both plant and animals as food. Golden-bellied capuchin normal home range is in the Atlantic forest of Brazil and it is critically endangered due to forest fragmentation and habitat loss mainly due to agriculture, there are currently efforts to protect them by the local government.

Origins
Capuchins falling under the genus of Sapajus and Cebus are believed to have a common ancestor originating in the Atlantic forest. Primates under the genus Sapajus then continued to live and occupy the Atlantic forest evolving into the species we know today such as Sapajus xanthosternos.

Habitat Fragmentation
The native biome of S. xanthosternos, the Atlantic forest of Brazil, is heavily fragmented with the majority of remaining forest fragment smaller than 50 hectares. Some of the remaining forests are maintained due to the presence of agroforests called cabrucas. The presence of these agroforests provide a habitat for local flora and fauna including S. xanthosternos. The remaining forest fragments tend to be surrounded by human activity such as farms, this is both beneficial and detrimental to the capuchins since they are able to raid crops to supplement their diet. This behavior, however, may lead to more confrontation and hunting by humans.

The ideal size of a forest fragment in order to properly sustain a population of S. xanthosternos is deemed to be larger than a range of approximately 400 to 700 hectares depending on local conditions, with currently approximately 2% of forest fragments being over 400 hectares this poses an issue for conservation.

Space Use
S. xanthosternos will use forest areas with more cover and protection from predators, even if it means avoiding areas of high food availability. There are also behavioral differences when the capuchins are within different types of forest, such as being more spread out in the capruca while staying lower in the canopy and closer together in secondary forests. Capuchins will change strategies in order to reduce the risk that they perceive within their habitats.

Hunting
Hunting is a major threat to S. xanthosternos and its ability to have populations survive long-term in forest fragments. Hunting is especially problematic in areas close to human activity such as agroforests (cabrucas) and farmland. There is an elevated perceived risk of predation in the capuchins behavior when it is in an area of forest that give a greater advantage to predators, such as reduced canopy coverage in cabruca and in areas that transition from other forest types to a cabruca.

Diet[edit]
Golden-bellied capuchins feed on both plant and animal origins making them omnivores. They mostly feed on plants such as fruits, seeds, flowers, nuts, leaves and stems, and nectar. They also eat insects, bird eggs, frogs, small reptiles, birds, bats, or other small mammals. Capuchins residing near marine areas will feed on oysters, crabs or other shellfish. Sapajus xanthosternos has been known to hunt and eat various small lizards, sometimes ripping limbs off of the lizards before consuming them.

Pet Trade
Capuchins are regularly captured in order to be sold in the illegal pet trade. In relation to species conservation it has been noted that the capture of a female creates a negative impact on a groups ability to survive than if a male is captured. Infants may also be sold into the pet trade, however this can be seen as a byproduct of hunting the mothers.

Current Efforts
There is an effort in place by the Brazilian National Action Plan for the Conservation of the Northeastern Primates to protect a number of endangered primate species including S. xanthosternos.