C. imitator had been regarded as a subspecies of C. capucinus until genetic studies in the 2010s revealed that the two species separated as much as 2 million years ago.[3][4] Although the Colombian white-headed capuchin retained the scientific name C. capucinus from prior to the species being split, almost all previous research on white-faced capuchins under the name C. capucinus had actually been on the Central American species C. imitator as there have not been any field studies on the South American species.[4]