NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Golden-faced Saki
Pithecia chrysocephala I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1850
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The golden-faced saki (Pithecia chrysocephala) is a species of saki monkey, a type of New World monkey. It is found in Brazil north of the Amazon, on both sides of the Rio Negro. This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the white-faced saki (P. pithecia), but was raised to full species status in 2014. The species is named for the coloration of the male, which has black body hair but orange or red-brown facial hair. The female has lighter body color and more bare skin on the face, with lines of orange hair extending down from below the eyes around the snout, as well as orange ventral fur. The golden-faced saki features a smaller, less prognathic, and less spherical cranial vault than the white-faced saki.
Wikipedia contributors, Golden-faced saki; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:02:39.509206+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pithecia chrysocephala I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1850
- Name authority
- I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1850
- Common name
- Golden-faced Saki
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Primates
- Family
- Pitheciidae
- Genus
- Pithecia
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
- suborderHaplorrhini Pocock, 1918
- infraorderSimiiformes Haeckel, 1866
- familyPitheciidae Mivart, 1865
- subfamilyPitheciinae Mivart, 1865
- genusPithecia Desmarest, 1804
- speciesPithecia chrysocephala I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1850
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pithecia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Gray Monk SakiPithecia irrorata Gray, 1842 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Isabel's SakiPithecia isabela Marsh, 2014 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mittermeier's Tapajós SakiPithecia mittermeieri Marsh, 2014 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Guianan SakiPithecia pithecia (Linnaeus, 1766) | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Vanzolini's Bald-faced SakiPithecia vanzolinii Hershkovitz, 1987 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Geoffroy's Monk SakiPithecia monachus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812) | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Equatorial SakiPithecia aequatorialis Hershkovitz, 1987 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cazuza's SakiPithecia cazuzai Marsh, 2014 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hairy SakiPithecia hirsuta Spix, 1823 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Burnished SakiPithecia inusta Spix, 1823 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Miller's SakiPithecia milleri Allen, 1914 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Napo SakiPithecia napensis Lönnberg, 1938 | PitheciidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Pithecia monachus lotichiusi Mertens, 1925 Mertens, 1925 | synonym |
| Pithecia capillamentosa Spix, 1823 Spix, 1823 | synonym |
| Pithecia pogonias Gray, 1842 Gray, 1842 | synonym |
| Pithecia pithecia chrysocephala I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1850 I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1850 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=998621 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4JBGX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.