''Cartelles'' is an extinct genus of

New World monkey New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboi ...

. Fossils of this species were found in

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

, Brazil, within the Toca da Boa Vista caves, and were originally described as belonging to another extinct

Atelidae The Atelidae are one of the five families of New World monkeys now recognised. It was formerly included in the family Cebidae. Atelids are generally larger monkeys; the family includes the howler, spider, woolly, and woolly spider monkeys (t ...

genus, '' Protopithecus''.

Description

''Cartelles'' was a very large monkey, and is considered the largest member of its family to have ever existed, at a weight of up to . Unlike most living New World Monkeys, ''Cartelles'' probably spent a good deal of its time on the ground, though it was also as proficient in arboreal locomotion as its smaller living relatives. It lived as recently as 15,000 BP. Fossils of ''Cartelles'' were found in 1992 and were originally assigned to the genus ''Protopithecus''. However, subsequent re-examination of its skeleton have showed many distinct cranial and postcranial features. Elements of the skull indicate that its closest living relatives are

howler monkeys Howler monkeys (genus ''Alouatta'', monotypic in subfamily Alouattinae) are the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropical realm, Neotropics and are among the largest of the New World monkey, platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyte ...

, and it is considered a member of the subfamily

Alouattinae Howler monkeys (genus ''Alouatta'', monotypic in subfamily Alouattinae) are the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropics and are among the largest of the platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyteles''), the spider monkeys (''Ateles ...

. It is uncertain if ''Cartelles'' could have howled like living howler monkeys, however. The genus was named in honor of palaeontologist Cástor Cartelle, who described the original fossil material.

References

Monotypic prehistoric primate genera Pleistocene primates Pleistocene mammals of South America Pleistocene Brazil Fossils of Brazil

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

Fossil taxa described in 2013 {{newworld-monkey-stub