Guianan Saki

Open encyclopedia reference

The white-faced saki (Pithecia pithecia), is a species of New World saki monkey. The small bodied neotropical primate can be found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. This species feeds mostly on fruits, nuts, seeds, and insects. Although it is an arboreal species and is a specialist of brachiation, it is also terrestrial when foraging. Typical life expectancy is around 14 years in its natural habitat, although individuals have been recorded to live up to 36 years in captivity. The white faced saki is active in the day and sleeps highly elevated (15–20 m (49–66 ft)) in trees with many leaves to shelter from weather and flying predators.

A formerly recognized subspecies, P. p. chrysocephala, was elevated to full species status as P. chrysocephala in 2014.

Wikipedia contributors, White-faced saki; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:19:50.597345+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Pithecia pithecia (Linnaeus, 1766)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1766)

Common name

Guianan 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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
12. suborderHaplorrhini Pocock, 1918
13. infraorderSimiiformes Haeckel, 1866
14. familyPitheciidae Mivart, 1865
15. subfamilyPitheciinae Mivart, 1865
16. genusPithecia Desmarest, 1804
17. speciesPithecia pithecia (Linnaeus, 1766)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Pithecia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 47 records assigned to Pitheciidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=572991 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:4JBHF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.