A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 1 (of 2)Forbes, Henry O. (Henry Ogg)
Science
A Hand-book to the Primates, Volume 1 (of 2)
Forbes, Henry O. (Henry Ogg)
Primates
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.
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