The ornate titi (Plecturocebus ornatus ) is a species of titi and is the smallest member of the family Pitheciidae, which also includes uakaris and saki monkeys. As it is a member of this family, it is classified as a type of New World monkey. It is endemic to eastern Colombia, and the only member of the Plecturocebus moloch group to occur north of the Rios Amazonas/Solimes/Napo axis, living at least 350 km away from the closest other member, the white-tailed titi (Plecturocebus discolor ), which lives in the south of Colombia. It was once classified as the same species as the white-tailed titi, but is now officially recognized as its own species. The ornate titi is also terrestrial.
The ornate titi is present on the IUCN Red List of endangered species, being recognized as “Vulnerable”, and having a general decrease in population trends.
Diurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. Approx...
An omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and ani...
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
Te
TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
Monogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
O
starts withThe ornate titi has a thick, dense, fluffy, coat, with white ears and forehead, and grey hands and feet. The rest of the body is a bright chestnut red, apart from the tail, which is a dark-reddish brown or black, becoming white at the tip, and, similar to most titi species, is longer than its body. Male and female ornate titis do not differentiate significantly in appearance, however, generally, females tend to be larger, with an average male body length of 633 mm, and an average female body length of 752 mm.
Due to their mainly herbivorous diet, the ornate titi spends a significant portion of the day sleeping. They usually spend around 60% of their time sleeping, which hugely differs from the white-tailed titi (P. discolor ), which spends less than 25%.
The ornate titi is diurnal, rising early in the morning and remaining awake and active until sunrise, however this depends on the season, due to the change in availability in food, particularly fruit, which tends to only appear in abundance in the warmer months. In contrast, an ornate titi may stay in sleeping site for up to four hours after sunrise in colder months. Usually, a titi's daily activity lasts for around 11.5 hours, with feeding taking up around 2.7 hours.
Their day is typically split into two feeding sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening, with a resting session at around midday. The last few hours of the day are generally spent feeding on leaves.
The ornate titi is an omnivore, but its diet is mainly frugivorous, their diet consisting of 70% fruit, 26% leaves, and less than 1% insects, usually with a preference for fruit that is not ripe, or that comes from smaller trees, as they can more efficiently exploit the more concentrated supply. However, they will also eat small (Generally less than 2 cm long) insects, such as moths, butterflies, cocoons, spiders, and ants, and are able to catch flying insects out of the air.
Out of the leaves which make up more than quarter of their diet, the ornate titi tends to prefer small leaves and buds, and during the dry season, their diets will become a lot more vine and bamboo based.
Some conservation efforts within Colombia have been made, since the species occurs in La Macarena National Park and Tinigua National Park, and although some populations have been observed in protected areas, guerilla activity makes it difficult to monitor.
