Taxonomy of squirrel monkeys genusSaimiri(cebidae, platyrrhini): A preliminary report with description of a hitherto unnamed form

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Abstract
Two groups of squirrel monkeys, genusSaimiri, are distinguished by external characters. The first, or Roman type, containsSaimiri boliviensisof upper Amazonia south of the Rio Marañón‐Amazonas, with two subspecies of whichS. boliviensis peruviensisis described as new. The second group, or Gothic type, contains three species:Saimiri sciureuswith four subspecies distributed over much of tropical South America,Saimiri ustusof Brazil between the south bank Amazonian Rios Purús and Xingu, andS. oerstediisolated on a Pacific coastal area straddling Costa Rica and Panamá. The geographic range ofS. sciureusoverlaps parts of those ofS. ustusandS. boliviensis. Incomplete karyotypic data indicate that the diploid number of chromosomes for the genus is 44. Geographic variation is characterized by reduction from seven to six or five paired acrocentric autosomes through pericentric inversion with reciprocal increase in number of paired submetacentric or subtelocentric autosomes. Geographic distribution, behavior, sexual dimorphism including dichromatism, and hybridization are discussed. Ventral guide hairs for orientation of subprecocial newborn toward the maternal mammae are described. Distinguishing characters of species and subspecies are provided in a key. The taxons are listed with the taxonomy of each discussed, their geographic distribution plotted and mapped.