A monkey that spends much of its time in trees but also comes down to forage on the ground.
It has coarse black hair on the crown and black sideburns along the sides of the face.
Tufted capuchins coil their tails around branches while reaching for food. They also use their tails while sitting or squatting above branches. Combinations of hands, feet and tail allow them to reach food in the trees.
A study published in 2025 compared tufted capuchins, Guianan red howlers and kinkajous using the same trees in the rainforest of French Guiana. Photographs taken in 2019–2020 and 2022, on branches thirty to forty metres above the ground, were used to describe tail and branch use. The tufted-capuchin data comprised 119 observational events from which movements and postures were classified.
Capuchins used their grasping tails mainly while stationary above branches. They wrapped their tails around branches in several postures, including squatting, sitting and standing on two feet. They were also observed anchoring themselves with the tail on main branches emerging from the trunk while reaching with their arms to grasp food. During arboreal feeding, the food-grasping hands worked together with the branch-grasping tail.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern · Global
The 2021 amended version of the IUCN assessment dated 3 April 2020 lists Sapajus apella as Least Concern globally, while reporting declines in parts of its range, especially through hunting. Capture for meat and pets, logging, and the expansion of farms and roads are conservation concerns. The species occurs in numerous protected areas, including Nouragues Nature Reserve in French Guiana, Iwokrama Forest Reserve in Guyana and the Central Suriname Nature Reserve.