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 3.9 kg (8.6 lb). 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
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Some authorities consider this a member of the subspecies *Cebus capucinus imitator*.
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
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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 body of an adult monkeys can be between 335 and 453 mm (13.2 and 17.8 in) in length plus the tail. They can weight of up to 3.9 kg (8.6 lb). The tail can be as long as 551 mm (21.7 in). Males are larger than females.

### 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.

Foraging in the trees
Fruit is between 50% and 67% or more of their diet. In one study, white-headed capuchins ate 95 different fruit species. Its favorite fruits includefigs from the family Moraceae, mangos and related fruits from the family Anacardiaceae and fruits from the family Rubiaceae. It normally only eats ripe fruit. It typically eats only the pulp and juice. The monkey spits out the seeds and fibers. It also east flowers, young leaves and bromeliads. The bromelids are also used as a water source.

The insects they eat include beetle larvae, butterfly and moth caterpillars, ants, and wasps. They also eat the larvae of and ants and wasps. It eats larger animals such as birds, bird eggs, frogs, lizards, crabs and mollusks. The amount of vertebrates eaten is different for each troop. Even troops ;icing next to each other can have large differences in their diets.

The diet can vary between the rainy and dry season. Some tribes will eat many types of fruits in the rainy season and during the dry season, they eat mostly insects, ant and wasp larvae and vertebrates. Access to water can also be a problem during the dry season. The white-headed capuchin likes to drink every day. In forests where water holes dry up, there can be competition between troops over water holes.

Reproduction
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The white-headed Capuchin has a polygamous mating system. The male mates with many females. The dominant male is normally the father of most of the young. Dominant males avoid breeding with their own daughters who are members of the troop. This is rare among New World monkeys.

The gestation period is 5 to 6 months. A single young is normally born from each pregnancy. Twins can sometimes be born. Most births happen from December to April. The baby is carried on the mother's back for about 6 weeks. After 4 to 5 weeks the baby can get off from its mother's back for a short period of time. At 3 months, it can move around by itself. Weaning happens between 6 and 12 months. It is common for Capuchins other than the mother help care for the infant. Males and females engage in this alloparenting.

The white-headed Capuchin matures slowly. It takes 3 years for a capuchin to reach sexual maturity. Females normally give birth for the first time at 7 years old. They give birth every 26 months. Males reach maturity at 10 years old.

Habitats
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White-headed capuchin at Frío River, Costa Rica
The white-headed Capuchin lives in Central America and a small part of South America. In South America the white-headed Capuchin lives in the north-western part between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains in Colombia and Ecuador. It is one of the most commonly monkeys in Central America's national parks.

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.

Other websites
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Wikispecies has information on: ***White-headed Capuchin***.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ***Cebus capucinus***.

* Use of a club by a wild white-faced capuchin to attack a venomous snake Archived 2013-01-05 at Archive.today