Part 17

_Cebus albifrons_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 195 (1876, part.).

CHARACTERS.--Fur soft; hairs of crown of head radiating from a centre, directed forward in front, forming a transverse crest on the middle of the crown. Face, throat, chest, and front of shoulders, pale greyish-brown; back of head and eyebrows blackish. General colour of body pale sooty-brown, washed with golden; outer side of limbs golden-buff.

DISTRIBUTION.--United States of Colombia.

XV. THE BONNETTED CAPUCHIN. CEBUS SUBCRISTATUS.

_Cebus subcristatus_, Gray, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 827; id. Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 52 (1870).

_? Cebus frontatus_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 206 (1876, part.).

CHARACTERS.--Hair of crown elongate, divided by a central line diverging to the eyebrows, forming an erect transverse crest behind them. Fur blackish-brown; sides of face pale ashy; {219}front of shoulders and of arms and outer side of legs, yellowish. Digits long and very slender.

DISTRIBUTION.--Brazil.

XVI. THE CAPPED CAPUCHIN. CEBUS CAPILLATUS.

_Cebus capillatus_, Gray, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 827, fig. 1; id. Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 52 (1870).

_? Cebus frontatus_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, viii, p. 206 (1876, part.)

CHARACTERS.--Hairs of head elongate, diverging in all directions; fur long, brown, slightly washed with yellow, more markedly on the thighs; sides of forehead paler; sides of neck, outer sides of shoulders and arms, fulvous; crown and nape of neck, blackish.

DISTRIBUTION.--Brazil.

XVII. AZARA'S CAPUCHIN. CEBUS AZARÆ.

"_Le Cay_," Azara, Essais Hist. Nat. Quadr. Prov. Paraguay, ii., p. 230 (1801).

_Cebus azaræ_, Rengger, Naturg. Säugeth., Paraguay, p. 26 (1830).

CHARACTERS.--Top of head black, with a band of the same colour passing in front of the ears, and terminating on the lower jaw; forehead, temples, and face, white; ear-tufts white; chin, throat, and upper side of feet white; upper side of tail, anterior part of the fore-feet and ankles, dusky; rest of body brown, lighter on the sides, becoming yellowish on the rump, the lower part of the body, and the under side of the tail. Length of the body, 17 inches; of the tail, 19 inches.

FEMALE.--Paler in colour above than the male; the dark colour of the tail and of the limbs more extended.

{220}DISTRIBUTION.--Paraguay.

HABITS.--This rare Capuchin lives, as Azara relates, in the forests of Paraguay, and is met with both in single couples and in small troops. They are very lively little animals, ever in motion, swinging themselves from tree to tree by means of their tails, the mothers of the company generally carrying their single young one on their back. When once tamed they become very affectionate; when angry they can give vent to excruciating screams. Their ordinary voice resembles that of someone laughing with all their might, and crying Hu! hu! hu!

Only once has a specimen of this Capuchin been an inmate of the Zoological Gardens in London.

XVIII. SCHLEGEL'S CAPUCHIN. CEBUS FALLAX.

_Cebus fallax_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 210 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--In colour closely resembling _C. fatuellus_, but the hair is longer all over, silky, and of a dusky hue, especially on the hinder part of the body. The lumbar vertebræ are four in number, and there are also fourteen pairs of ribs.

DISTRIBUTION.--Unknown.

THE WOOLLY MONKEYS. GENUS LAGOTHRIX.

_Lagothrix_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 106 (1812).

The animals grouped under the genus _Lagothrix_ are readily distinguished by having a heavy body, and a rounded head, with the muzzle much flattened, and the nostrils nearly circular, but not approximated. More conspicuous than any other external character is the woolliness of their under-fur.

The name _Lagothrix_ was given by Humboldt to the first specimen he found, because of the similarity of its fur to that {221}of the hare, and hence this name, from [Greek: lagôs], a hare, and [Greek: thrix, trichos], hair, was adopted for the new genus, which was afterwards established by Geoffroy St. Hilaire.

The hair of the crown is short and directed backwards; the tail is long and perfectly prehensile, being naked and sensitive for a considerable distance back from the tip. The limbs are moderately long, and the thumb and great-toe are well developed, the nails of the digits being compressed and pointed.

In regard to the skeleton, the skull of _Lagothrix_, as Dr. Slack points out, can be readily distinguished from that of the Capuchins by a broad, well-marked, articulation taking place between the pre-maxillary and the nasal bones at right angles to the suture between the latter, while in the Capuchins no true articulation takes place between these bones. The lower jaw is larger than in _Cebus_, approaching the size and form of _Mycetes_. The incisor teeth are small and unequal, the upper inner incisor being the largest; the canines are very large and grooved in front.

The Woolly Monkeys are slow in motion, gregarious, diurnal, and arboreal. The "Barrigudos," as they are called by the Portuguese colonists, live exclusively on fruits, and are larger and less active than the Capuchins. They are confined to the forests of the Ecuador district of the Upper Amazon Valley, and along the slopes of the Andes, north to Venezuela and south to Bolivia.

They are of a mild disposition, and, as Mr. Wallace remarks, they are the species "most frequently seen in confinement, and are great favourites, from their grave countenances, which resemble the human face more than those of any other Monkeys, their quiet manners, and the great affection and docility they exhibit."

{222}I. HUMBOLDT'S WOOLLY MONKEY. LAGOTHRIX LAGOTHRIX.

_Simia lagothrica_, Humb. and Bonpl., Obs. Zool., i., p. 322 (1811).

_Lagothrix cana_, Id. tom. cit. i., p. 354 (1811).

_Lagothrix lagotricha_, Id. tom. cit. p. 354.

_Lagothrix humboldtii_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 107 (1812); Scl., P. Z. S., 1863, p. 374, pl. xxxi.; Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 162 (1876, part.).

_Lagothrix canus_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 107 (1812).

_Gastrimargus olivaceus_, Spix, Sim. et Vespert., Bras., p. 39, pl. 28 (1823).

_Lagothrix tschudii_, Pucher., Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1857, p. 296.

_Lagothrix geoffroyi_, Pucher., t. c. p. 297.

_Lagothrix cana_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 162 (1876; part.).

_Lagothrix olivaceus_, Spix, ?; Bates, Nat. River Amazon, ii., p. 320 (1863).

(_Plate XX._)

CHARACTERS.--Body large and heavy; face naked, black, and wrinkled; forehead low, the eyes projecting; a few scattered white hairs on lips. Hair of under surface hoary, and longer than that of the upper surface.

ADULT MALE.--General colour blackish, hoary-grey, the hairs being dark grey, tipped with black. Head, chest, hands, under surface of body, and tip of tail, black. Length of the body, from 19 or 20 inches to 27 inches in very large specimens; tail from 24 to 26 inches.

YOUNG.--Hoary grey, darker on the belly and inner surface of the limbs; hands and top of head black.

PLATE XX.

{223}DISTRIBUTION.--This Monkey was discovered by Humboldt on the Guaviaré, a branch of the Orinoco river. It occurs in the Upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia, where it is known as the "Churuco" river. Its true habitat is the district south-west of the Rio Negro towards the Andes. It is unknown in the Lower Amazon Region.

HABITS.--The "Caparro," as the Orinoco Indians named this species to Humboldt, or "Macaco barrigudo," as the Portuguese settlers call it, is entirely an arboreal animal, living exclusively on fruits, on which it is a most voracious feeder. The name of "big-bellied," which _barrigudo_ means, is probably obtained from the effects of this habit. Its manners in captivity are grave, and its temper, according to Mr. Bates, is mild and confiding, like that of the Coaitas, or Spider-Monkeys. Owing to these traits, the Barrigudo is much sought after as a pet; but it is not hardy like the Coaitas, and seldom survives a passage down the river to Pará. Nevertheless, the Zoological Society has had a considerable number of these Monkeys in confinement during the past twenty years. Mr. Bates also states that it is much persecuted by the natives on account of the excellence of its flesh as food. "From information given me," he says, "by a collector of birds and mammals whom I employed, and who resided a long time among the Tacuna Indians, near Tabatinga, I calculated that one horde of this tribe, 200 in number, destroyed 1,200 of these Monkeys annually for food. The species is very numerous in the forests of the higher lands, but, owing to long persecution, it is now seldom seen in the neighbourhood of the larger villages."

II. THE BROWN LAGOTHRIX. LAGOTHRIX INFUMATUS.

_Gastrimargus infumatus_, Spix, Sim. et Vespert., Bras., p. 41, pl. 29 (1823).

{224}_Lagothrix poeppigii_, Schinz, Synops. Mamm., i., p. 71 (1844); Pucher., Rev. et Mag de Zool., p. 299 (1857); Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 164 (1876).

_Lagothrix geoffroyi_, Schinz, Synops. Mamm., i., p. 72 (1844).

_Lagothrix castelnaui_, Is. Geoffr. et Deville, C.R., xxvii., p. 498 (1848); Casteln., Voy. Amér. Sud, Zool., p. 5, pl. 1.

_Lagothrix infumatus_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 46 (1870); Scl., P. Z. S., 1871, p. 219 (Note).

CHARACTERS.--Large in size; face naked, black; general colour dark reddish-grey, the hairs being reddish-brown at the base, and tipped with grey or black; head, face and hind hands darker brown; chest, upper side of fore-arms, and under surface of body dark brown, or almost black; sides of body, base of the tail and perineal region brownish-red; hair of chest and under surface long and rather rigid.

DISTRIBUTION.--The Brown Lagothrix, also called "Capparo" by Humboldt, is common in the forests of the low country over the whole of the Valley of the Peruvian Amazons. It has been recorded from the Valley of the Copataza river, and also from Macas, both in Cis-Andean Ecuador.

HABITS.--These Monkeys go about in pairs, in troops of about twelve to fourteen, and frequent the great forest trees. They are often found in company with species of other genera, such as the Howlers. They are exclusively fruit-eaters, and are in great request as food; large numbers, consequently, are destroyed annually for this purpose.

THE WOOLLY SPIDER-MONKEYS. GENUS BRACHYTELES.

_Brachyteles_, Spix, Sim. et Vespert. Brazil, p. 36 (1823).

_Eriodes_, Is. Geoffr., Dict. Class., xv., p. 143 (1829).

The members of this genus resemble in general form the {225}Spider-Monkeys, to be presently described, and they present also many resemblances to the foregoing species of the Woolly Monkeys. Their limbs are long and slender, and their body heavy, and covered with a woolly under-fur. Their head is rounder than in the Capuchins. The face is flat, and the facial angle large. The nose has the partition between the nostrils narrower than in the other species of the family, and the nostrils are themselves more approximated, circular in form, and directed more downward than outward, thus showing some approach to the position of the nostrils in the Old World Apes. Their fore-limbs are long and slender, and the thumb is often entirely absent (as in the Guerezas of Africa), or there may be a very rudimentary digit, which sometimes ends in a small nail. The nails of the digits are, as in _Lagothrix_, very compressed and sharp. The tail is longer than the body, naked on the under side, and sensitive at its termination, and therefore prehensile.

The skull is globular, and the pre-maxillary bones articulate with the nasal bones by a broad surface. The incisor teeth are equal in size; the canines are small, and of the same length as the incisors, and the molars, which are vertically higher than the canines, are thick and quadrangular. The lower jaw is dilated behind, somewhat less than in _Lagothrix_.

The Woolly Spider-Monkeys are very rare, and little is known of their habits. They are confined to the south-eastern coast forests of Brazil, that region to the south of Cape San Roque, whence, as far as Rio Grande do Sul, ever-verdant forests, as Mr. Wallace has described, clothe all the valleys and hills of the lowland region, stretching as far west as the higher mountain ranges parallel to the coast, and even up the valleys of the larger rivers a long way into the interior of the country.

{226}THE BROWN WOOLLY SPIDER-MONKEY. BRACHYTELES ARACHNOIDES.

_Ateles arachnoides_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., vii., p. 271 (1806); xiii., p. 90, pl. 9 (1809); xix., p. 106 (1812); Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 184 (1876, part.).

_Ateles hypoxanthus_, Desm., Mamm., p. 75 (1820); Neuwied, apud Kuhl, Beitr. Zool., p. 25 (1820); Schl., t. c. p. 185 (1876, part.).

_Brachyteles macrotarsus_, Spix, Sim. et Vespert., Bras., p. 36, pl. 17 (1823).

_Eriodes hemidactylus_ and _E. tuberifer_, Geoffr., Mém. Mus., xvii., pp. 161, 163 (1828).

_Eriodes arachnoides_, Geoffr., Mém. Mus., t. c. p. 160 (1828).

_Brachyteles arachnoides_, Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 45 (1870).

CHARACTERS.--MALE.--Size small; face nude, flesh-coloured; general colour of body yellowish-brown, darker on the back of the head, with a few long black hairs on the forehead; hairs of head short and directed backward; buttocks, vent, base of tail and perineal region dark ferruginous-brown; the thumb wanting or rudimentary. Length of body, 22 inches; tail, 26 inches.

FEMALE.--Ashy-brown, instead of yellowish-brown, in appearance.

YOUNG.--In some young specimens the general colour is dark brown, with the sides of the face white.

Dr. Slack observes, in the "Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia" for 1862, in reference to this species: "I had long suspected that the three species of this genus described by Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire, were in reality one and the same; no specific characters are manifest in their coloration, or skulls, the supposed differences being {227}based upon the development of the anterior thumbs, this member being absent in _B. arachnoides_, replaced by a small nailless tubercle in _B. tuberifer_, and surmounted by a nail in _B. hemidactylus_. In the "Magazin" of Messrs. Verreaux, in Paris, I found specimens having upon one hand the tubercle, and upon the other the nailed thumb, others with the tubercle on one hand, but absent upon the other. St. Hilaire himself, in his "Catalogue of the Primates," expresses a doubt as to whether _B. arachnoides_ and _B. hemidactylus_ are really distinct. In September and October, 1860, I was unable to find _B. hemidactylus_ in the Paris Museum, all the _Brachyteles_ being labelled _Eriodes arachnoides_."

DISTRIBUTION.--Confined to the wooded region of the south-east of Brazil.

HABITS.--Arboreal, diurnal, and (it is supposed) gregarious, frequenting the high forest trees, and subsisting on fruits.

THE SPIDER-MONKEYS. GENUS ATELES.

_Ateles_, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., vii., p. 262 (1806).

This is the fourth remaining genus of the _Cebinæ_, the last Sub-family of the _Cebidæ_. With the description of the Spider-Monkeys, therefore, we shall have passed in review all the species of the New World Platyrrhine section of the _Anthropoidea_. The species of this group derive their trivial name from their long and slender limbs; the name applied to them, however, in their native forests by the Indians of Brazil is "Coaita." They are characterised by their light and slender body, which is narrower across the loins than across the chest. The head is rounded, the forehead salient, and the muzzle somewhat projecting. Both pairs of limbs are much elongated, the {228}hind-limbs being shorter, however, than the fore-, and the thumb of the fore-limb is sometimes very rudimentary, being only a nailless tubercle--or, in the majority of the species, entirely absent, rendering the hand a much less perfect organ for holding or picking up small objects, such as fruits, &c.; but its absence probably does not affect, if it does not even benefit, the hand as an organ for climbing and catching hold again after a long leap. The nails and other digits of both limbs are compressed, but much less so than in _Brachyteles_ and _Lagothrix_. The tail is very long, generally exceeding the length of the body and head, and is nude on the under side, and very sensitive towards its termination. As a prehensile organ it has reached the summit of strength and perfection. "It even serves as a fifth hand, as detached objects, otherwise out of reach, can be grasped by it, and brought towards the hand or mouth." (_Mivart._) The body is covered with long, rather coarse, generally black, hair, and has no woolly under-fur, as in _Lagothrix_ and _Brachyteles_.

With regard to the skeleton of _Ateles_, the lumbar region of the vertebral column is short, and the dorsal segment attains a greater relative length than in any other Ape, being over nine-twentieths of the total length of the spine, without the tail. (_Mivart._) The dorsal and lumbar vertebræ together number eighteen. In the tail there are twenty-three vertebræ, flattened on the under side, and exceptionally provided with bony processes, serving as points for the attachment of muscles for rendering it as efficient a prehensile organ as possible. The length of the whole arm and hand in _Ateles_, in proportion to that of the spine, is 174 to 100; but without the hand it is shorter than the spine, the hand itself being only slightly shorter than the latter. The proportion of the hind-limb to the spine is somewhat less, being 169 to 100. The thumb is reduced to a single metacarpal bone, to {229}which, usually, a single minute nodular phalanx [finger-bone] is articulated, and is completely hidden beneath the integument. Although thus rudimentary and functionless, all its characteristic muscles, except one (the long-flexor) are present. (_Huxley._) The upper incisors are unequal, the interior being the larger. There is a space (diastema) between the incisor and the canine teeth (as in all _Anthropoidea_, except Man); the canines are large and conical; the upper molars large, and their crowns four-cusped, with transverse ridges between the outer and inner front cusps and the outer and inner hind cusps, and also an oblique ridge crossing from the outer front cusp to the inner hind one. In the larynx of _Ateles_ there is a single median air-sac opening from the back of the windpipe, but there is no such extension of the resonating apparatus as is seen in the Howlers (_Alouatta_). In its brain _Ateles_ exhibits in some respects a higher type than in even the Old World Apes.

In regard to this group of Monkeys, the late Mr. H. W. Bates made the following interesting observations:--"In the Coaitas the tail reaches its highest perfection as a prehensile organ; and on this account it would perhaps be correct to consider the Coaitas as the extreme development of the American type of Apes. As far as we know from living and fossil species, the New World has progressed no further than the Coaita towards the production of a higher form of the Quadrumanous order. The tendency of Nature here has been, to all appearance, simply to perfect these organs, which adapt the species more and more completely to a purely arboreal life; and no nearer approach has been made towards the more advanced forms of Anthropoid Apes, which are the products of the Old World solely. The tail of the Coaita is endowed with {230}a wonderful degree of flexibility. It is always in motion, coiling and uncoiling like the trunk of an Elephant, and grasping whatever comes within reach.... The flesh of the Coaitas is much esteemed by the natives in this part of the country [Obydos, on the Amazon].... One day I went on a Coaita hunt. When in the deepest part of a ravine we heard a rustling sound in the trees overhead, and Manoel [the guide] pointed out a Coaita to me. There was something human-like in its appearance [which is very characteristic of them], as the lean, dark, shaggy creature moved deliberately amongst the branches at a great height. I fired, but unfortunately only wounded it in the belly. It fell with a crash headlong about twenty or thirty feet, and then caught a bough with its tail, which grasped it instantaneously, and then the animal remained suspended in mid-air. Before I could re-load it recovered itself, and mounted nimbly to the topmost branches out of the reach of a fowling-piece, where we could perceive the poor thing, apparently probing the wound with its fingers. Coaitas are more frequently kept in a tame state than any other kind of Monkey. The Indians are very fond of them as pets, and the women often suckle them when young at their breasts.[12] They become attached to their masters, and will sometimes follow them on the ground to considerable distances.... The disposition of the Coaita is mild in the extreme; it has none of the painful, restless vivacity of its kindred, the _Cebi_, and no trace of the surly, untameable temper of its still nearer relatives, the _Mycetes_, or Howling-Monkeys. It is, however, an arrant thief, and shows considerable cunning in pilfering small articles of clothing, which it conceals in its sleeping place."

PLATE XXI.

{231}The Coaitas are like the rest of the _Cebidæ_, essentially quadrupedal, but they occasionally assume the erect posture. They are purely arboreal in habit, living in small companies in the very high trees of the forest.

Their geographical distribution is very wide. They extend over the whole area of the _Cebidæ_, _i.e._, over two of the sub-regions, the Brazilian and Mexican, of the Neotropical Region.

I. THE VARIEGATED SPIDER-MONKEY. ATELES VARIEGATUS.

_Ateles marginatus_ (nec Geoffr.), Humb. Obs. Zool., pp. 340, 354 (1811).

_Ateles variegatus_, Wagner in Schreb., Säugeth., i., p. 313 (1840); id. Abhandl. Akad. Münch., v., p. 420 (1847); Sclater, P. Z. S., 1870, p. 668; 1871, pp. 39, 225; Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist. (4), vi. (1870), p. 472.

_Sapajou geoffroyi_ (nec Kuhl), Slack, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1862, p. 511 [= [male]].

_Ateles bartletti_, Gray, P. Z. S., 1867, p. 992, pl. xlvii.

_Ateles melanochir_, var. Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 43 (1870, in part).

_Ateles chuva_, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 175 (1876).

(_Plate XXI._)

CHARACTERS.--MALE.--Fur of body abundant, long, and soft; hair of back and top of head long and directed forwards, and projecting over the forehead; beneath and behind the cheeks a band of longish hairs, directed forwards. Top of head, back, front aspect of the entire arms, and of the legs to the knees, hands, feet, and upper side of tail glossy blue-black; a band {232}across the forehead rufous-yellow; the hairs directed upwardly, bordered by a narrower streak of deep black over the eyes; the under side of the fore-limbs, the posterior aspect of the thighs, and the entire leg, the buttocks, and the whole of the under side of the tail as far as the nude portion (which is black), rich orange-yellow; under surface of body paler. Face naked, black, and bordered by a broad white patch of whiskers, reaching from the temple nearly to the angle of the mouth. The black part of the limbs and legs near to the yellow colour, varied with more or fewer yellow hairs.

FEMALE AND YOUNG MALE.--Similar to the adult male, but less in size, and the coloration paler than in the adult male. Elbows and feet black; under side of the body greyish-yellow. The white stripe on the sides of the face is wanting in the young female.