White-headed capuchin

The **white-headed capuchin** (*Cebus capucinus*) is a medium-sized New World monkey. It is a member of the family Cebidae and the subfamily Cebinae. The monkey is also known as the **white-faced capuchin** or the **white-throated capuchin**. It lives in the forests of Central America and the northwestern part of South America. The white-headed Capuchin is important to rain forests because it spreads seeds and pollen.

It is a very intelligent monkey that has been trained to assist paraplegic people.

The monkey is medium-sized. It can weigh up to . Their color is mostly black. They have a pink face. They also have white on the front part of the body. It has a prehensile coiled tail. It is used to help support the monkey on a branch.

The white-headed capuchin can eat many different types of food. These include fruit, plants, insects and small vertebrates. The monkey lives in troops. (groups) these groups can have more than 20 animals, both males and females.  the animal is noted for its ability to use tools. They are known to rub plants on their fur as a herbal medicine. They can also use tools as weapons and for getting food. The monkey is known to live for over 54 years.

## Taxonomy
The white-headed Capuchin was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in his 18th century work, *Systema Naturae*. It is a member of the family Cebidae. It is part of the family of New World monkeys. It is part of the genus *Cebus*. It is part of the *C. capucinus* species group. 

Some scientists think there are three subspecies of white-headed Capuchin:
* *C. c. capucinus*
* *C. c. imitator*
* *C. c. limitaneus*

## Physical description
The white-headed Capuchin has mostly black fur. It has white or yellow fur on the neck, throat, chest, shoulders, and upper arms.  The face is pink or a white-cream color. The face can have marks like dark brows or dark fur patches. There is also an area of black fur on the top of the head.  The tail can be as long as  .

### Diet 
The white-headed capuchin is an omnivore.  Its mainly eats fruit and insects.  It find food at all levels of the forest. It also finds food on the ground.  To find food, it uses many methods. These include taking the bark off of trees, searching through leaf litter, breaking dead tree branches and rolling over rocks. They also use stones to break open hard fruits.  It normally only eats ripe fruit.  The bromelids are also used as a water source.  The amount of vertebrates eaten is different for each troop.

The diet can vary between the rainy and dry season.  Some tribes will eat many types of fruits in the rainy season  Dominant males avoid breeding with their own daughters who are members of the troop. This is rare among New World monkeys. Males and females engage in this alloparenting. Females normally give birth for the first time at 7 years old. They give birth every 26 months.

It is very common in Costa Rica and Panama, but the monkey has been thrown out from Honduras and much of Nicaragua. Many Honduran Capuchin monkeys were moved to the island of Roatán. Nany of the Nicaraguan Capuchin monkeys were captured and moved to the island of Ometepe.

## References 
## Other websites
*Use of a club by a wild white-faced capuchin to attack a venomous snake