This species was originally described by Hershkovitz as the subspecies Pithecia irrorata vanzolinii[3][4] based on individuals collected in 1936 by Alfonso M. Olalla, but it was raised to full species status in 2014.

Further specimens were collected in 1956 by Fernando Novaes (the then director of the Goeldi Museum in Pará) and his assistant Miguel Moreira.

[7] After 61 years, in 2017, one individual was collected after being hunted for bush meat in an extractive community in the state of Acre, Brazil.

[5] After not being seen alive for more than 60 years, as F. Novaes and M. Moreira collected specimens in 1956,[8] an individual was photographed in the wild in August 2017.

[6] In January-February 2017, an expedition surveyed for large mammals, with a focus on primates, along the Eiru River and Igarapé Preto in Amazonas.