Evidence suggests that the red facial coloration reflects the health of the primate.

[5] The four species of uakari currently recognized are all found in the north-western Amazon basin.

When traveling through the forest they move in the lower branches of the trees, though when foraging they also go up to the canopy.

[7] Uakari are found in neotropical Amazon flooded or riparian forests, including Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.

[8] There are four species from the Genus Cacajao:[1][9] In 2014 Ferrari et al. proposed an alternative taxonomy for the C. melanocephalus group which recognizes the Aracá uakari as a subspecies of the golden-backed uakari, and also recognized Cacajao ouakary as a separate species, whereas current consensus is that C. ouakary is a junior synonym of C.