Coppery Titi, Plecturocebus cupreus
COPPERY TITI
Plecturocebus cupreus
Geographic Distribution and Habitat
The coppery titi, also known as the red titi, is found in the upper and middle canopies of the Amazon forests of northwestern Brazil and eastern Peru. Within this range, they are typically found in lowland tropical and sub-tropical forests in areas that flood seasonally. They can also be found in young forests, swamp edges, and bamboo thickets. They only rarely descend to the ground, preferring to stay in the shrub of the undergrowth and at low altitudes.
Size, Weight, and Lifespan
Coppery titis exhibit no sexual dimorphism, meaning there are no noticeable physical differences between genders. Both genders weigh around 2.2 pounds (1 kg) and have a head-body length averaging 13 inches (33 cm) long. In addition, their LOOOONG, furry tails can measure an additional one-third of their body length!
Wild titi monkeys can live into their early 20s. In captivity, they have lived more than 25 years.
Appearance
The body of the coppery titi is covered in coarse hair, while the face is bare and dark gray in color. Their sideburns, undersides, and legs are burnt reddish in color, giving them a coppery appearance, and hence, their name! The upper and outer sides of the body and head are agouti in color; that is, their fur is streaked with light and dark alternating bands that are reddish and brownish. The forehead has the same coloration, except for the crown, which sometimes has a blackish fringe. Titi monkey species are often distinguished by the coloration of the hair across the forehead.
Their hindlimbs are shorter than their forelimbs. Despite this, they use short leaps to move about the lower levels of the forest habitat. Their long, non-prehensile tails are used for balance as they travel, and not for grabbing or grasping.
In conclusion: coppery titi monkeys are CUTE!
Diet
The coppery titi’s diet is composed of fruit and insects. They spend nearly 75% of their feeding time eating fruit, which makes them frugivores, while the other 25% is spent eating bamboo, flowers, leaves, and some insects. With regard to fruit, their diet can include as many as 100 different types, and they tend to favor soft fruits such as figs. They eat more leaves during the dry season compared with the wet season. Feeding times are generally during both the early morning and afternoon, while additional feeding on leaves may happen before they sleep. When females are producing milk for their young, a process known as lactation, they double their intake of insects, as the need for protein increases during this time.
Meal time is a social affair: individuals in a coppery titi family group may feed on the same food from the same source at the same time. They do not, however, feed in the same tree at the same time as other primates.
Behavior and Lifestyle
The coppery titi, like other titis, is diurnal, starting their day early in the morning and remaining active until sunset. Depending upon the season, the length of time spent on their daily activities varies. They awaken before dawn during the warmer months when more fruit is available and stay in their sleeping site for up to four hours after sunrise during the colder months when fruits are harder to find. Coppery titis are also an arboreal species, spending the vast majority of their time in the trees. In terms of locomotion, coppery titis move through the lower levels of the canopy quadrupedally, or on all fours. Occasionally, they leap short distances—particularly in smaller trees and thickets of vines.
Titi monkeys split their day into two main feeding sessions: once in the morning and once in the afternoon. These sessions are separated by a period of midday rest. Most of their free time—up to 47%—is spent socializing and bonding with one another through grooming, playing, sitting, and resting together. The last few hours of the day are spent munching on leaves before settling in for the night. Coppery titis do not construct sleeping nests. Rather, sleeping sites are located in tangles of vines, covered in dense leaves for additional protection, and on small branches about 50 feet (15 m) above the ground. Sometimes, sleeping sites are reused. During sleep, group members remain close to one another—within 3 feet (1 m)—and huddle together with tails entwined.
Predators of the coppery titi include birds of prey and feral cats. To avoid predation, coppery titis engage in mobbing behavior towards potential predators. It begins with one male starting an alarm call, which triggers others to join, resulting in a group alarm call surrounding the predators within a couple of minutes. Males are usually the ones who sound the alarm call. Along with the group alarm, the titis will lash their tails, sway their heads, and develop goosebumps in an intimidating visual display. This anti-predator mobbing behavior typically occurs without the infants getting involved, and if an infant is present, a group member will hide the baby further away from the area while singing the alarm call. The longest of these alarm call sessions have been observed by scientists to last more than 40 minutes!
Tail-entwining: The Ultimate Form of Bonding: Usually reserved for the breeding pair, a coppery titi will wrap the tail around that of another individual. This occurs during both the daytime and during sleep in order to reinforce bonds and to balance each other.
Singin’ in the Rain? NOPE!: Weather has an effect on the duets performed by the breeding pair; they will spend more time duetting on overcast days rather than clear ones. However, they do not perform duets while it’s raining.
Coppery titis live in groups ranging between two and five individuals, consisting of a breeding pair and their immature offspring. A group’s home territory ranges between 49-74 acres (20-30 ha). The breeding pair will defend their territory vocally by performing duets at the boundaries. Although aggression is uncommon, juveniles enjoy play-fighting with one another and with adults. This includes tail-grabbing, chasing, running parallel to one another, batting at each other with their hands and tails, and gentle biting. At around two to three years of age, young adults will leave their family group to form a group of their own, which often coincides with the birth of new offspring in the natal group.
There have not been many observations of dominance in either males or females, and both genders have been observed leading groups. As for associating with other primates, coppery titis tend not to feed alongside other primates, but titis as a whole live in the same habitats as a number of other primates including marmosets, squirrel monkeys, woolly monkeys, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, owl monkeys, saki monkeys, capuchins, and tamarins. At least they have plenty of other monkey neighbors!
Coppery titis are highly vocal animals, with a complex set of vocalizations and sounds. When foraging, they use chirp calls, which consist of a pure tone with a frequency of 6,000 hertz (6 kHz). Other vocal elements include grunts, moans, screams, squeaks, whistles, and bellows. Bellows are common when the breeding pair is participating in their duets, which are performed daily at or before sunrise for about five minutes. These duets are important for defining territorial boundaries between family groups. Neighboring pairs usually respond to these duets. Duets start with moaning and end with honking. Males typically bellow after moaning, while females pant during the bellows. The duet is only synchronized during the transition between sequences. They’re complex, but also very fascinating!
In addition, coppery titis have a very keen sense of smell and utilize olfactory, or scent-based, communications. When two individuals come into contact with one another, they sniff each other’s faces or other body parts. This is known as social sniffing and occurs when two unfamiliar individuals meet for the first time. The breeding male of a group will sniff the genital region of the breeding female to determine when she is sexually receptive. Another olfactory communication method is chest-rubbing. Males rub their chest on branches, spreading a secretion from their sternal gland, to mark their territory.
Coppery titis also communicate via visual cues. A common display is an arched back—arched like a cat—which is followed by an attack or an escape. Tail-raising and tail-lashing, the latter of which is moving the tail from side to side, are displayed during hostile encounters. When an individual is frustrated or indecisive, they perform a displacement scratch, in which they vigorously scratch their chest.
Finally, there’s tactile, or touch-based communication. This includes social grooming between group members, which is common between adult males and adult females, and between adult males and their young. Tail-entwining, previously mentioned in the Fun Facts section, is another means of reinforcing bonds between the breeding pair of a group.
Coppery titis are monogamous, meaning one male mates with one female. The breeding male will sniff the genital region of the breeding female to determine when she is receptive. After a gestation (pregnancy) period of around 136 days, the breeding female will give birth to a single offspring, rarely twins, between November and March. Births occur once per year. Unlike most primates, male titi monkeys are the primary carriers of their young. Just 48 hours after birth, the breeding male will start to carry his young and continue to carry the offspring on his back for up to six months, even after the infant is weaned off of the mother’s milk. He only hands them off to Mom for her to nurse.
Juveniles are very playful, often engaging in various forms of play-fighting with other members of the group. Weaning occurs at around four months of age, and at around two to three years of age, young adults will leave their family group to form a group of their own, often coinciding with the birth of a new offspring in the natal group.
As most of their diet consists of fruit, the coppery titi aids in the regeneration of the forest habitat by dispersing seeds through their feces as they move around. They additionally play a role in pollination. Like bees and butterflies, they collect pollen from flowers while consuming them. They then deposit the pollen on each flower they visit, thereby pollinating the plants. As a prey species, coppery titis also play a role in feeding local predators within their habitat. Finally, they can also be considered pest controllers, as a result of their diet consisting of insects.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the coppery titi as Least Concern (IUCN, 2015), appearing on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Coppery titis live in highly isolated regions, and thus, don’t face any major threats to their survival. Despite this stroke of good luck, they are opportunistically hunted locally for bush meat, the pet trade, and the use of tails as dusters around homes.
The coppery titi is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), an international agreement between governments whose goal is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
In Brazil, the coppery titi is found in the Serra do Divisor National Park, as well as several indigenous reserves, biological reserves, national forests, and extractive reserves. In Peru, the coppery titi is found in the protected Matsés National Reserve and Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area.
Conservation actions needed include continued site, area, land and water management, and further research on the coppery titi’s life history and ecology. In addition, improved monitoring of their population trends is needed in order to ensure that this adorable monkey continues to survive and thrive in the forests of the Amazon.
- https://www.alltheworldsprimates.org/Members/Home/MasterPrimate.aspx?tid=1413
- https://www.dudleyzoo.org.uk/animal/titi-monkey-coppery/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppery_titi_monkey
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titi_monkey
- https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/127530593/192453653
- https://www.marwell.org.uk/animals/coppery-titi-monkey/
- https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/animals-az/coppery-titi-monkey/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9250660/
- https://www.zoobasel.ch/en/tiere/tierlexikon/tierbeschreibung/281/roter-springaffe/
- https://zoogalaxy.net/en/photos/mammalia/primates/platyrrhini/callicebus/callicebus-cupreus
Written by Sienna Weinstein, February 2025