Neotropical Primates

Alfred Russell Wallace who is considered the father of biogeography observed that in South America primates on one side of a river are often different to those on the other side. This is because rivers act as barriers for dispersal and influence speciation over time. A glance through the distribution maps of various primate species in this book illustrates this point very well. What also comes across is that many primate species are restricted to relatively narrow ranges. In South America, there are national parks which are bigger than some of the smaller European countries. Therefore, the absolute size of the range does not always make the problem immediately obvious. However, when looking at the distribution maps it becomes immediately clear that for many species their range on a relative basis, is tiny relative to the size of the Neotropics. Relatively speaking, some primate distributions are just a tiny dot in the maps in the book. The ecological and historical biogeographical factors that have led to such reduced relative ranges for primates in many cases also apply more widely to other species of plants and animals as well. The huge number of species in the Neotropics can mask the fact that many species have relatively small ranges. There is a myriad of habitats in the Neotropics, differing subtly from one another. As primates are an iconic group of mammals this book serves well to drive home that Neotropical forests are not one vast homogenous block but with wide variations in their structure and species composition. Holding onto every significant patch of forest that is still left is important because there are subtle differences in the ecology of these forests and there can be many species that are confined to the surviving forest fragments.

This book treats a total of 192 species of primates in 5 families and 24 genera as being found in the Neotropics. The introduction defines the Neotropical region with maps showing the countries in scope. The 21 Neotropical countries with primates are listed in a table, ranked by the number of species. In my book collection is a copy of Primate Geography: Progress and Prospects published in 2006 by Springer. In it is a paper, Biogeography and Primates: A Review by Shawn M. Lehman and John G. Fleagle where the number of primates in the Neotropics is stated to be 116. During the intervening 19 years between these publications the number of described species has increased by a staggering 65 per cent. Some of the increase in species is due to splits rather than the discovery of a completely hitherto unknown primate species. But this nevertheless reinforces the need to conserve what is left as disjunct populations may over time come to be recognised as distinct species.

To me therefore, this book is something more than an illustrated checklist of primates. It is a compact and beautiful illustration of the diversity of species in the Neotropics, how fragile their continued existence is, how much more there is to be discovered and a powerful reminder that the Neotropical forests are not covered in homogenous forests that are the same everywhere. The checklist is a spin-off from the 9-volume series of the Handbook of the Mammals of the World published by Lynx Nature Books. The checklist has 13 authors which is a roll call of some of the leading contemporary primatologists. The illustrated species accounts (pages 46 to 125) form the core of the 141-page book. Each primate species is illustrated with one image with an accompanying distribution map and brief text on habitat and distribution. Additional information includes identification and measurements (head and body length, tail length and weight), names in Portuguese and Spanish, IUCN conservation status and the two-letter ISO country code for the countries it is found in. Species endemic to a country are labelled with an ‘E’.

I can see people thumbing through the plates and being inspired to go out and seem some of these remarkable primates. The illustrated checklist is good enough to function as an identification guide and as a life list, as the authors appear to wish and they have devoted a chapter to primate watching and primate tourism.

There is quite a lot packed into this book. To keep the book compact and lightweight, this does mean the choice of font has drifted towards the smaller end of the publishing spectrum. The introductory sections (pages 13 to 44) introduce the Neotropical region and Neotropical primates. There are country league tables of primates for the world and the Neotropics. Brazil, the fifth largest country in the world with large tracts of Amazonia within it, not surprisingly leads in first place in the world with a whopping 145 species. A section on diversity, discusses the families and their genera and species. There are 4 maps. I wish the map on South American rivers was much bigger and had stretched across two pages because the rivers are quite key to pinpointing the locations of many species. The habitats are described under 7 major groups. Under the grouping for Amazonia, 20 different forest types are described. Threats, conservation status, primate watching and primate tourism are the other chapter headings followed by an extensive list of references. The end sections include a checklist of Neotropical primates and an index.

Although not described as a field guide, it is the closest book available to a concise field guide for Neotropical primates. I used the illustrated checklist’s illustrations and text and most importantly the distribution maps to narrow down the species I had seen in Peru. Although my images of the Saddle-back Tamarin did not correspond closely with the illustration, my best ID effort of the species I had seen in Amazonia (during five days) around the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica lodge were Large-headed Capuchin (Sapajus macrocephalus), Bolivian Red Howler Monkey (Alouatta sara), Peruvian Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri boliviensis peruviensis) and Weddell’s Saddle-back Tamarin (Leontocebus weddelli). I loved my time in the Amazon watching primates and it was very special to watch Saddle-back Tamarins foraging watched only by me and my guide Pedro from the lodge. According to the country league table in the book, Peru comes fifth in the world and second in the Neotropics with 58 species. With a country like Peru, it will require a vast amount of time and vast distances to be covered to see a significant proportion of the primate species it holds.

This illustrated checklist should make it easier for people who live in the Neotropics to appreciate the richness of species they have of these iconic mammals and hopefully inspire even more people to take more action to conserve habitats for primates.