xvn OTHER SOUTH AMERICAN MONKEYS 557 



referred to, and the Monkey, originally described by the traveller 

 von Humboldt, is said to have " the appearance of a diminutive 

 lion." M. bicolor is an example of the species with no mane, 

 but with a patch of white round the mouth, looking like " a ball 

 of snow-white cotton " held in the teeth. 



Fam. 2. Cebidae. The remaining American Monkeys are 

 comprised in the family Cebidae. This is to be distinguished 

 from the last by the fact that there is an additional molar, thus 

 making thirty-six teeth in all. The tail, sometimes very short, 

 is more generally long and highly prehensile, being nude at the 

 extremity, which part is therefore especially prehensile ; this 

 state of affairs is often to be seen in animals with prehensile 

 tails. The Cebidae, though for the most part larger than the 

 Marmosets, never approach in size the Old-\Vorld Apes. 



Typical of the family is the genus Oebus, including the 

 ' Capuchin " Monkeys, and consisting of nearly twenty species ; 

 the tail, though prehensile, is covered with hair to the tip, a fact 

 which is indicative of a less perfect prehensility than is exhibited 

 in some Monkeys with a naked under surface to the tip of the 

 tail. The thumb is well developed. The genus ranges from 

 Costa Rica to Paraguay. The commonest Monkey which accom- 

 panies the street organs of this country is a Cebus. It is a 

 popular delusion that these and other monkeys are purely 

 vegetable-feeding animals. Cebus is in fact particularly fond of 

 caterpillars, as are also the Marmosets. 



Allied to Cebus is Lagothrix, the Woolly Monkey, of which 

 L. humboldti is the best-known species, there being indeed but 

 one other. It is a larger and heavier animal than any species of 

 Cebus; and the Hare -like woolliness of the fur suggested its 

 scientific name to its original describer, von Humboldt. It has 

 a perfectly prehensile tail, naked at the tip. The thumb and 

 great toe are well developed. These are purely fruit -eating 

 Monkeys, and are known as " Barrigudos " by the Portuguese of 

 the Amazon country on account of their prominent belly, due 

 apparently to the immense amount of fruit consumed. They are, 

 or were, much eaten by natives. 



Brachyteles is a little-known genus, connecting the last with 

 the next genus. The under fur is woolly ; the thumb is small 

 or absent. The tail is naked below. 



The Spider monkeys, Ateles or Coaitas, have been described as 



