This spider monkey has a white forehead triangle and pale lines on its face against black fur, and uses calls to stay in contact with its group.
Its fur is black, with a white triangle on the forehead and pale lines along both sides of the face.
Researchers examined genetic diversity in seven remaining urban forest fragments in Sinop, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Between 2022 and 2024, they collected fecal samples in five fragments. Of 26 samples, six with low sequence quality were discarded, leaving 20 samples for mitochondrial DNA analysis. Sample numbers differed among the five forest fragments.
The researchers also compared one blood sample from an animal captured near the Sinop Hydroelectric Dam in 2018. Across the 20 urban samples and this additional sample, they identified 12 haplotypes; 10 were exclusive to a particular fragment, while two occurred in the two nearest park fragments. The urban samples showed no clear geographic genetic substructure and retained relatively high mitochondrial diversity.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The authors note that reconnecting urban forest fragments with surrounding areas could help restore genetic diversity from before isolation.