A new spider monkey from Panama

Vol. XXVIII, pp. 101-102 April 13, 1915

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW SPIDER MONKEY FROM PANAMA.

BY

E. A.

GOLDMAN.

In determining

^thecollection of

mammals made

ⁱⁿ

the course

of

the Smithsonian

Biological

Survey

^{of the}

Panama Canal zone (1911-1912), a black

spider

monkey ^obtained

^{in the east-}

ern

_part of

Panama was

provisionally referred to Ateles ater

F. Cuvier

of

Guiana, a

species ^first

recorded from Panama _by

Sclater.*

More

recent

comparisons, however, with

material

from

various sources

including

^the

type and a topotype

^of Atelesrohustus

Allen from western Colombia, kindly loaned

l)y

Dr.

J.

A. Allen

of the

American Museum

of

Natural

_History, indicate that the

specimen

represents

a new form

described

below.

Atele.s dariensis _sp. nov.

DARIEN BLACK

SPIDER

MONKEY.

Type from near head^of Rio

Limon

(altitude 5200 feet).

Mount

Pirri, eastern

Panama.

No. _179,044, female adult (teethslightlyworn), ^U.S.

National

Museum

(Biological Survey Collection), collected by ^{E. A.}

Goldman,

April29, 1912. Original

number

21,664.

Generalcharacters.

— A

rathersmalllong-tailed black spider

monkey

^of

theAteles atergroup. Similarin total length ^toAtelesrobustus of west- ernColombia, but^taillonger

and

head

and

bodycorrespondingly shorter (tail nearly twice^aslong^ashead

and

_body,instead ofonly a^littlelonger as in A.robustus); ^skull differing especially in the greater posterior extension ofthe_palate,

and

the peculiar^flattened conditionofthe audital bullae. Apparently diflering from A. ater in relatively longer tail, smaller generalsize,

and

incranial details.

Color.

—

_Face

_and

_entirepelageuniform deepglossy black,except afew whitish hairsonthemiddleofthe forehead

and

aboutthe mouth.

Skull.

—

_{Similar to that ofA.robustus, but}smaller, the^frontalregion

more

elongated anteriorly; zygomatic portion ^of jugal

more expanded

•Proc. Zool. Soc.Lond.,1872. p.5.

16—Proc.Biol. Soc.Wash.,Vol.XXVIII,1915. (101)

102

Proceedings ^ofthe Biological Society of

Washington.

vertically^;palate longer, reachingposteriorly

beyond

the posterior plane of last molars, the greater extension due to expansion^of the palatines;

audital

bultemuch

flattened

and

_angularinsteadofrounded

and

_inflated, the outer edgesoverlapped by^extensionsof the alisphenoids

and

_squa- mosals, molariform teethsmaller; upper premolars^lessextendedantero- posteriorly,the anterior of the series

more

_distinctlysmaller than the second. Contrastedwithaskull withoutdefinite locality, but believedto befromtlie

Lower Amazon

or

Guiana and

assumed to representA. ater, the frontal region ^issimilarly prominent and the palate^asawholeisof about the

same

_length, but the palatine portion ^of the

bony

^{slielf is}

longer, reaching anteriorly ^to the posterior plane ^{of first} molars; the zygomaticportion^ofthe jugal^is

much

heavier,

more expanded

vertically,

and

the auditalbullae

much

smaller, ^{lessinflated.}

Measurements.

—

_{Type: Total length, 1260; tail vertebrae, 810; hind}

foot, 170. Skull (type): Greatest _{length, 113.9;} occipitonasal length, 98.3; basal length, 79; breadth of braincase, 59; zygomatic breadth, 65.7; orbital breadth,57.3; postorbital breadth,44.7; breadthofrostrum atcanines, 26.2; greatestwidthofnasalsanteriorly, 10.4;palatallength, 35.5; upper molarseries, 22; lowermolar_series,27.

Remarks.

— The

Darien representative^oftheA. atergroup^isexternally distinguished fromitsgeographic neighbor, A. robustusof Colombia,

by

the proportionately longer^tail; theskull

may

^be

known

bythe posterior extensionofthe palate

beyond

^{the lastmolars. Its}exact relationship^to A. ater of

Guiana

is

somewhat

problematical

owing

^to unsatisfactory material for comparison, but ^{the latter}appears ^to be a shorter-tailed animal with cranial differences already pointed ^out. Moreover, ^the cranial measurements _given by Elliot* indicate thatJ., aterin a _larger animal. Ateles rufiventris Sclater, which

was

described from the Rio Atrato

and may

range north ^to

Panama,

^seems

amply

distinguished

by

itscolor.

Specimens examined^: One,^thetype.

Rev. Primates,vol.2,p.30, 1913.