The New World monkeys or Platyrrhines are the four families of primates that are found in Central and South America, the Cebidae, Nyctipithecidae, Pitheciidae and Atelidae. All families differ from the Old World monkeys and apes in having long, often prehensile tails. The name means "flat nosed", and this is how they are distinguished from Old World monkeys. Platyrrhine noses are flatter, with side facing nostrils, compared to the narrow noses and downward facing nostrils of Old World Monkeys. Many are small, arboreal and nocturnal, so our knowledge of them is less comprehensive than that of the more easily observed Old World monkeys. Unlike most Old World monkeys, many New World monkeys form monogamous pair bonds, and show substantial paternal care of young.
Once in the New World, platyrrhines diverged into a variety of forms ranging in size from the smallest living anthropoid (Cebuella) at ~110 grams to the howler monkeys (Alouatta) that reach 11 kg (Fleagle, 1999).
Although the adaptations of different genera are reflected in their craniodental anatomy, platyrrhines in general retain a cranial morphology more similar to primitive anthropoids from the Eocene and Oligocene of Egypt such as Catopithecus, Parapithecus, and Aegyptopithecus than do the living Old World anthropoids (Fleagle, 1999; Simons, 2001).
New specimens of the oldest fossil platyrrhine, Branisella boliviana, from Salla, Bolivia.
Feeds |
Contact