NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 509 



Tail very long, generally exceeding the head and body in length, very 

 strongly prehensile, terminal inferior portion naked and callous. 



I have selected the genus Lagothrix as the typical genus of this tribe, as each 

 of the other genera possesses some peculiarity either of excessive, or arrested 

 development. 



Genus I. Sapajou, Lacepede. 



Simia (parte), Linn., Systema, ed. xiii. 1788, p. 26. 

 Cebus (parte), Erxleben, Systema, 1777, p. 44. 

 Sapajou, Laclphde, Mem. de 1'lQStitute, 1800 1801, p. 489. 

 Ateles, Geoff., Ann. du Mus., 1806, p. 260. 



Artus graciles longi ; antipedes tetradactyli aut verruca in loco pollicis ; 

 instructa dentes primores superiores inequales, lanarii illis longiores, conici. 



Body light and slender; compressed at the loins, and expanding in the tho- 

 racic region ; limbs very long and slender ; anterior thumbs wanting, or replaced 

 by a small nailless tubercle ; forehead salient, muzzle elongate, molars circu- 

 lar and small, the fourth and fifth being largest, canines large and conical, su- 

 perior incisors of unequal length, the median equalling in size the largest 

 molars ; hair silky. 



Isidore St. Hilaire, in his paper upon the Eriodes, (Mem. du Mus., vol. xviii. 

 1829, p. 121,) states that in the skull of this genus a portion of the circumference 

 of the anterior nares is formed by the ascending portion of the superior maxilla- 

 ries, the intermaxillaries not articulating with the nasal bones. This is not 

 always the case, as I have met with several skulls of species of this genus, in 

 which the ascending portion of the intermaxillaries, and the inferior borders of 

 the nasal bones were in contact; no true articulation, however, takes place, the 

 points of the bones merely touching each other. The name Sapajou proposed 

 for this genus by Lacepede, has not been adopted by subsequent authors ; it cer- 

 tainly is at least five years prior to that of Ateles, and should be restored. 



Sapajou paniscus, Lacepede. 



Simia paniscus, Linn., Syst. ed. xiii. 1788, p. 36. 

 Cebus paniscus, Erx., Systema, 1777, p. 46. 

 Ateles paniscus, Geoff., Ann. duMus., vol.vii. 1806, p. 269. 

 Coati, Buffon and Latreille. 

 Quatto and Coactu, Vosmaer. 



Icones, Audebert, Singes Fam. V. sect. 1, fig. 2. Bvffon, Hist. Nat., vol. xv. 

 fig. 1. Latreille, Les Singes, vol. ii. fig. 62. 



S. ater. Facie tota nuda, carnea; palmis tetradactylis. 



Hab. Guiana. 



Entirely of a deep shining black color; anterior hands tetradactyl; tail 

 about one-fourth longer than body j face naked and of a flesh color ; hairs of 

 forehead very long and projecting anteriorly. 



This species is by lar the best known of any of the genus, numbers being 

 captured when young by the natives of Guiana, and, as they are of a hardy tem- 

 perament, they thrive well in captivity ; its habits in this state are gentle and 

 pleasing. In a state of nature they live in large troops, numbering sometimes 

 as many as one hundred individuals. They are much hunted for food by the 

 natives, their flesh being considered a great delicacy. Their food consists 

 chiefly of the fruit of a species of palm. Dampier (Voyages, vol. iv. p. 228) 

 states that they resort to the sea-side, at low water, in large numbers, for the 

 purpose of collecting oysters, breaking the shell between stones, and eating the 

 animal with great gusto. Latreille states, (Hist. Nat. des Singes, vol. ii. p. 145,) 

 that they devour large numbers of fishes, which they capture by means of their 

 tails! this we fear must be received "cum grano salis," though that organ is 

 used for a great variety of purposes. The naked portion is studded with 

 papillae analogous to those of the human hand, and, from experiments made 



1862.] 



