70 



ORDER QUADRUMANA. 



SUB-TRIBE I.— CATECHURA.'— SAPAJOOS. 



SYNONYMS. 



H^LOPiTHEci (Helopitlieques) GeofF. Ann. Miis. XIX. 105.. 



Les Sapajous.— BufF. Hist. Nat. — Cuv. Reg. Anim. 

 Cebus-* — Ei-xl. p. 44. 



CHAR.4CTERS OF THE SUB-TRIBE. 



The Tait. prehensile, and long. 



Some of the American Apes have their tails prehensile ; that is to say, its extremity is capable of rolling itself with sufficient force round 

 other bodies, so as to seize them lilie a hand. These are more particularly styled Sapajoos, 



GENUS I. MYCETES.3— HOWLERS. 



Syn. Les Alouattes Cut. Reg. Anim. I. 99. 



Mycetes. — lUig. Prodr. 70 Kuhl. Beitr Desm. Mam. 



Stentor.— GeofF. Ann. Mus. XIX. 107. 



Cebcjs (in part) -Fisch. Syn. Mam Erxl. p. 44. 



SunA (in part)..— Linn. Gmd. I. 



generic characters. 

 The Head pyramidal. The Face oblique. The Facial angle 30°. 

 The Hyoid Bone cavernous, capacious, and appearing externally. 

 The Tail naked beneath tlie point. 



The Hands pentadactylous. The Nails short and convex. 

 Inhabit South America. 



At the head of the Sapajoos we may place the Howlers, which 

 are distinguished by their pyramidal head. Their upper jaw de- 

 scends much lower than the cranium, while the ascending branches 

 of the lower jaw are much elevated, for receiving a bony drum, 

 formed by a vesicular expansion of the hyoid bone, which commu- 

 nicates with the larynx, and gives an enormous volume and terrific 

 tone to their voices. Hence their name of Singes hurleurs, Bruli- 

 affe, or Howlers. The prehensile portion of their tail is naked be- 

 neath. 



This genus contains several species, the distinctive characters of 

 which are not yet very definitively fixed, as the colour of the hair, 

 upon which it is founded, varies according to the differences of age 

 and sex. 



Tiiese animals are at once distinguished from all other Apes by the 

 expansion of the throat, and by their terrific howl, resembling the grunt- 

 ing of a herd of swine. Though monogamous, they are found in troops 

 of fifteen or twenty, and fill the air at the rising and setting of the sun 

 with their mournful howls, which may be heard to a very remote distance. 

 The concert usually commences with the note of a single Howler, whose 

 example is speedily followed by all the remainder. These Apes are by 

 no means nimble, but heavy, stupid, and lazy. They feed chiefly on leaves. 

 When perceived by the hunters in their inaccessible retreats among the 

 dense foliage of lofty trees, surrounded by rocks and rivers, tliey do not 

 fly with the agility of the other Apes, nor do they take flight to any dis- 

 tance, but moving slowly, and howhng piteously, they climb higher towards 

 the tops of the trees. The Females carry their young clinging to the back 

 or under the belly. As the Howlers are in general very large and fit, 

 they are in great request among the Colonists and Indians, who use them 

 as food. They are dressed with the skins on, well singed, and roasted 

 before a fire. Bouilli a la singe is likewise accounted very palatable ; but 

 the resemblance of the animal to a human child, especially about the 

 head, gives the dish a revolting appearance. This kind of food is easily 

 procured, as the Howlers are at once discovered by their cries, and the 

 slowness with which they take to flight commonly exposes the entire 

 troop to certain death. 



This genus is natural, well defined, and characterized by havinir its 

 limbs of medium length, and all terminated by five fingers, the anterior 

 thumb being half as long as the first finger, very confined in its move- 

 ments and scarcely opposable, but especially by the remarkable form of 

 the skull and hyoid bone. The skull is pyramidal, and shaped in such 

 a manner, that when it is made to rest upon the dentary marains of the 

 upper jaw, that is to say, when the plane of the palate is held horizon- 

 tally, the occipital foramen is on a level with the upper part of the orbits. 

 The position of the occipital foramen is hkewise singular ; it recedes back- 



wards, and instead of being placed at the base of the skull, is perpendi- 

 cular to it. The lower jaw is excessively developed, especially in its 

 branches, which are so extensive, as to equal the entire skull in extent 

 of surface. They form two deep partitions, containing between them a 

 large cavity, in which is deposited a hyoid bone modified in a remarkable 

 manner. The body of that bone is transformed into an osseous chest, 

 with very thin and elastic sides, presenting a large opening behind, on 

 the sides of which are articulated two pairs of horns, forming the half of 

 an ellipsoid, when they have attained their full growth. This chest is 

 about two inches and a half in each diameter, and almost square. In 

 consequence of this enormous growth, the hyoid bone extends beneath 

 the lower jaw, and forms a projection, covered externally and concealed 

 by a long and thick beard. The precise manner in which this apparatus 

 influences the sound, so as to produce a volume so enormous, has not 

 yet been distinctly explained. The larynx does not differ from that 

 of the Weepers (Cebus), except by the presence of two membraneous 

 sacs, into which the ventricles open, and communicate with the hyoid 

 bone. 



The females of the Howlers, as well as those of other American Apes, do 

 not appear to be subject to the "ecoulementperiodique;" they produce only 

 one young one at a time, and this the)' carry on the back. They appear 

 to have much affection for their young. D'Azara seems to consider them 

 as polygamous, but Spix positively assures us that they are not so. They 

 are domesticated with difficulty, and, as far as we know, have never yet 

 been seen alive in Europe. 



At the present date, only four species are plainly recognizable ; but 

 this number has been more than doubled by the vague indications of se- 

 veral German and French writers. 



I. MYCETES SENICULUS.— ROYAL HOWLER. 



Syn. L'Alouatte kousse. — Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 99. 



Stentor Semculus.- — GeofF. Ann. Mus. XIX. 



Mycetes Seniculus. — Kuhl. Beitr. — Desm. Mam. — Latr. 



Cebus Seniculus Erxl. p. 46.- — Fisch. Syn. Mam. 



SniiA Skniculcs. — Linn. Grael. — (^Mono Colorado). — Humb.'' Obs. 

 Zool. p. 342 and 354. 



Royal BIonkey Penn. Quadr. No. 13?, a. 



Icon. L'Alouate. — Audeb. Sing. 



Buff. Hist. Nat. Suppl. VII. pi. 25. 



specific characters. 



The Hair of the head, arms, hands, and tail, deep brownish-red; 

 elsewhere, bright yellowish-red ; a beard long and bushy. 



The Face naked and black. 



Inhabits French Guiana, Carthagena, and the banks of the Magda- 

 lena. 



The Royal Howler, about the size of a large Fox, of a bright 

 yellowish-red, deeper on the head, [limbs], and tail, often comes to 

 us from the woods of Guiana, where it lives in troops. 



Its food consists of leaves rather than fruits, and its cry is composed of 

 short and hoarse sounds, proceeding from the depth of the throat, resem- 

 bling the grunting of a Hog, but infinitely louder. When first captured, this 

 animal is very savage ; but when brought up in captivity, we are told that 

 it loses its voice, becomes melancholy, and does not long survive. 



The face of the Royal Howler is black, and naked with the exception 

 of a few scattered red hairs, some scanty black hairs for e}elashes, 

 and a few on the lips. The hair of the forehead is deep brownish-red, 

 very short and thick, and pointing backwards, while the hair of the occi- 



tail. 



1 Catechura — from x.xri)ca, katecho, to hold fast, and ovpx., oura, 



2 Cebus, or Cepus ( K-^TrojJ— names of an Ethiopian Ape, whi 

 — Sote of the Baron Cvvier. 



3 Mycetes — from f^vy-r,Ty]g, mukctes, howling. 



4 Humb. Obs. Zool — Recueil d'Observations de Zoologie et d'Anatomie Compan 

 la Mer du Sud, pendant les annees 1799 a 1803, par Al. de Humboldt et A. Bonpland. 



h appears, from /Elian's description (XVll. c. 8), to have been the Red Guenon (Cercopithecus ruber). 



?, faites dans I'Oceaa Atlantique, dans I'Interieur du Nouveau Continent, et dans 

 Paris, 1811. 



