Say hello to the totally terrific Toppin’s Titi… probably.

You see, here’s the thing…

I think that these Titis are Toppin’s Titis, but Titi taxonomy is terribly tricky. There’s thirty-nine types of Titi in total and oftentimes things can get icky.

Man, I read way too much Dr. Seuss as a kid.

Anyway, these might also be Brown Titis or Coppery Titis but I’m fairly sure they’re Toppin’s Titis. If you’re reading this and you happen to be an angry monkey scientist who can’t believe I’m unable to tell the difference – please get in touch, I’d love to chat about Titis with you.

One more little note about Titi taxonomy. Eight new species of Titi have been identified since 2000, and when one of them was discovered, the researchers auctioned off the naming rights in order to raise monkey for the conservation organisation that maintains the park where the monkey was discovered. The winner, with a bid of US$650,000 was – and I am not making this up – an online casino, GoldenPalace.com. The result was that we now have a monkey called the Golden Palace Monkey, whose official species name is aureipalatii, meaning ‘of the Golden Palace’.

I am so conflicted about this story. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for conservation in exchange for a monkey named after an online casino. Capitalism is utterly insane.

I told the story to this Toppin’s Titi and the photo above was his reaction – but that might’ve just been because he doesn’t speak English.

Titis are some of the most wholesome monkeys on the planet. They mate for life and live in strong family units, ranging from two to seven individuals. Often, they can be spotted sitting or sleeping in pairs with their tails intertwined, a behaviour which reinforces social bonds between family members (see photo below). If threatened, Titis defend the group by screaming and chasing away the intruders, but they’ll avoid actual fighting at all costs.

Titis are also excellent fathers. After the mother gives birth, Dad takes on most of the responsibility for raising the baby monkey, typically only bringing the young to their mother for milk. Titi fathers spend large amounts of time grooming, feeding and playing with their kids.

Baby Titis are fully grown after two years, and a year or so later they’ll leave the family group in order to find a mate and begin their own journey in the outside world.

Side note: It’s interesting how we humans typically find animal behaviour ‘cute’ if it closely resembles our own behaviour, but when a snake bite starts melting your flesh all of a sudden it’s ‘terrifying’ and ‘a medical emergency’. We’re so self-centred.

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This post is part of a series featuring four fantastic primates photographed at Los Amigos Biological Station in Peru. Check out our posts on the Squirrel Monkey, the Brown Capuchin and the Saddleback Tamarin to learn more!

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Toppin’s Titis (Plecturocebus toppini), Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Dios, Peru