THE GUEREZA MONKEYS 



567 



The first with which we shall deal is Colobus, containing 

 the Monkeys known as Guerezas. These creatures are entirely 

 confined to the African continent, and they are arboreal in habit. 

 It has been attempted to show that their affinities are more with 

 the Platyrrhines than with the group in which they are really to 

 be placed. In favour of regarding them as nearer akin to the 

 American monkeys are only two facts of importance : the first is 

 the practical absence of the thumb, which of course recalls the 



FIG. 270. Black Celebesian Ape. CyiwpUhecus niger. x . 



condition characteristic of Ateles ; in the second place, the nostrils 

 in their wideness somewhat resemble those of the Platyrrhines. 

 They are slender Monkeys with well-marked callosities. They 

 have a complex sacculated stomach, resembling the large intestine 

 of some other animals ; it is not divided into distinct chambers 

 like the stomach of a Euminant or of a Whale. Correlated 

 apparently with this large stomach is the small development of the 

 cheek pouches. This genus, of which there are about ten species, 

 is characterised by beautiful skins, which are largely collected. 

 The Arabs have a legend to the effect that one species, when 

 wounded, and seeing its capture and the removal of its skin 



