Part 49

This is the typical genus of the American Monkeys. They are distinguished by having a robust body, covered with woolly fur, with a rounded head and a face which, instead of having a protruding muzzle, is more erect and Man-like. They are the commonest Monkeys seen in captivity in our streets. Their tail is long and covered with hair to the tip, and, though prehensile, it is not the perfect substitute for an additional hand noticed in several other genera. Their limbs are only moderately long, and are less slender than in the Spider-Monkeys. The fore-limbs have a well-developed thumb, which, as compared with the length of the hand, is the most {205}Man-like of all the Apes; in some species the nails of the digits are compressed laterally.

In the skull the cranial portion exceeds the facial. Professor Mivart observes that in this group the facial part is relatively smaller than in many of the higher Old-World Apes. The skull has no external bony canal (or meatus) to the ear; and its frontal bones possess large air-cavities. In the Capuchins the incisor teeth are erect, and are always shorter than the canines. The molars are four-cusped, and have, on their crowns, two transverse ridges and the oblique ridge, already described in the Lemuroidea, from the front inner cusp to the hind outer cusp. These animals have also one milk-molar tooth more than in Man.

The outer surface of the main brain (cerebrum) is almost as much convoluted as in the Old World Apes.

The Capuchins range from Costa Rica to Paraguay, and are represented by about eighteen species. They are very gentle and docile animals.

F. Cuvier observes in his "Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes," that of all the Quadrumana--indeed, of all the Mammals--there are none so difficult to characterise as the Capuchins of America, whose colours vary almost with every individual. No two authors agree in the number of species the genus contains. Brisson recognised three, Linnæus four, Gmelin six, Buffon two, and George Cuvier supposed it possible that they all belonged to but one species. Two causes help to produce this diversity of opinion; one is, as remarked above, the natural disposition which these animals have to vary, and to become lighter or darker in colour according to circumstances, and the other is the extremely close relationship that exists between the different species of the genus. Observations, {206}however, are not yet numerous enough, nor exact enough, to enable those who have only studied the species alive in Europe, or had skins, to decide with such imperfect data as to their sex, age, and habitat. Not until some naturalist has made a prolonged study of these animals in their native country, and watched their conduct and relations in the living state, can we hope to attain to any certain knowledge of how many species the genus contains; and of the differences between the old and young of both sexes at different periods from youth to age.

I. THE WHITE-THROATED CAPUCHIN. CEBUS HYPOLEUCUS.

Saï á gorge blanche, Buffon, Hist. Nat. Mamm., p. 64, pl. 15, fig. 9 (1767); Fr. Cuv., Hist. Nat. Mamm., livr. xvi.; Audeb., Hist. Nat. Singes, fam. v., sect. 2, pl. 5 (1797).

Simia hypoleuca, Humb., Obs. Zool., i., p. 337 (1811); Pucher., Rev. et Mag. de Zool. (2), 1857, p. 348.

Cebus hypoleucus, Geoffr., Ann. Mus., xix., p. 111 (1812); Gray, Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 50 (1870); Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 190 (1876).

Cebus leucocephalus, Gray, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 827, fig. 4; Sclater, P. Z. S., 1872, p. 4; Alston in Godman and Salvin, Biol. Centr. Am. Mamm., p. 13 (1879).

CHARACTERS.--Hair very silky, smooth and stiff, and thicker above than below. Face and forehead nude, flesh-coloured; hands and feet nude, of a violet hue, as also the thinly-haired skin of the under side of the body. The tip of the tail for a short distance being naked, distinguishes this species from all others. Shoulders, arms, and sides of the head behind the ears pure white; chest and throat yellowish; rest of the body deep black.

{207}Older individuals have the head longer than the younger ones, and the shoulders yellowish instead of white. Length of the body, 13½ inches; of the tail, 17 inches.

DISTRIBUTION.--This species was discovered by Humboldt in the low lands of Colombia. From Colombia its range extends north to Nicaragua. It has been obtained in Veragua, in Panama, in Costa Rica, and in the north-east of the country between the Pacuar and Chirripo rivers, and also on the mountains of Candalaria.

HABITS.--The White-throated Capuchin feeds partly on fruit, as Mr. Belt has narrated in his well-known "Naturalist in Nicaragua." He adds:--"It is incessantly on the look out for insects, examining the crevices in trees and withered leaves, seizing the largest beetles and munching them up with the greatest relish. It is also very fond of eggs and young birds, and must play havoc amongst the nestlings. Probably owing to its carnivorous habits, its flesh is not considered so good by Monkey-eaters as that of the fruit-eating Spider-Monkey; but I never myself tried either."

Mr. Salvin saw a troop of these Monkeys in company with several Spider-Monkeys by the margin of a watercourse in Nicaragua, and remarked that the actions of the latter were bolder and more active than those of the Capuchins, which were slower and more timid.

According to Cuvier, the cry of this animal in captivity is a continuous soft whistle until its wants are satisfied; if it wants nothing this whistle is intermittent, and very soft. When in terror, its cry is a veritable bark, broken by silent intervals.

It is extremely docile and very intelligent; the look in its eyes is remarkably penetrating, and it appears to read in the {208}eyes of its observer what is passing within him, and to comprehend every motion and gesture.

When pleased it utters a reiterated shrill note, and draws back the corners of its mouth, producing a smile by contracting the same muscles as in the human face.

II. THE WHITE-CHEEKED CAPUCHIN. CEBUS LUNATUS.

Cebus lunatus (Sajou cornu), male; F. Cuv., Hist. Nat. Mamm., pl. 70 (nec Kuhl).

Cebus vellerosus, Is. Geoffr., Cat. Méth. Primates, p. 44 (1851, pt.).

Cebus leucogenys, Gray, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 824, pl. xlv.; id. Cat. Monkeys Brit. Mus., p. 48 (1870).

Cebus frontatus, Schl., Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 206 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--Fur soft, elongate, silky, with thick under-fur. Hair on front of head elongate and reflexed, forming across the brow a short crest, higher above each eye; hair on top of head lying flat; that on cheeks short and adpressed; base of nose large, and corrugated longitudinally; toes long; tail longer than in other species; under surface of body less haired.

General colour silky brown, almost black on the head and limbs, paler on the shoulders and arms; the whiskers forming a white, or sometimes pale yellow, band, bordering the cheeks from opposite the eyes to the chin. Face and hands naked, violet; skin below the hair of the same colour.

The hair of the body is longer in winter than in spring; but the crests, or "horns," and the white whiskers appear only when the animal is fully adult.

DISTRIBUTION.--Brazil.

III. THE SLENDER CAPUCHIN. CEBUS FLAVUS.