Xenotrichini (the Antilles monkeys) is a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

of extinct

primate Primates are a diverse order (biology), order of mammals. They are divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include the Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and ...

s, which lived on the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, ...

as recently as the 16th century. These Caribbean islands no longer contain

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

primates, although the most recently discovered species, the

Hispaniola monkey The Hispaniola monkey (''Antillothrix bernensis'') is an extinct primate that was endemic on the island of Hispaniola, in the present-day Dominican Republic. The species is thought to have gone extinct around the 16th century. The exact timing a ...

, was reported to have lived on

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and t ...

until the settlement by the Europeans. The relationship of these species is supported by details in the formation of the skull and the lower jaw, such as a reduction in the number of teeth.

Taxonomy

The exact timing and causes of extinction are not well-known and their relationship and placement in the

parvorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

of the

New World monkeys 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 Ceboidea ...

is unsure. Originally they were thought to be closely related to the

night monkey Night monkeys, also known as owl monkeys or douroucoulis (), are nocturnal New World monkeys of the genus ''Aotus'', the only member of the family Aotidae (). The genus comprises eleven species which are found across Panama and much of South Ame ...

s, but more recent research as placed them in

Callicebinae The titis, or titi monkeys, are New World monkeys of the subfamily Callicebinae, which contains three extant genera: ''Cheracebus'', ''Callicebus'', and ''Plecturocebus.'' This subfamily also contains the extinct genera ''Miocallicebus, Homunc ...

subfamily, containing the titi monkeys. A 2018 DNA study of the Jamaican monkey suggested that it diverged from its closest relative ''

Cheracebus ''Cheracebus'' is one of three genera of titi monkeys. Monkeys in this genus, particularly the type species '' Cheracebus lugens'', are sometimes referred to as widow titi monkeys. Historically, titis were monogeneric, comprising only the genus ...

'' around 11 Ma, during the Late Miocene, which is younger than the 18 Ma ''Paralouatta'' from Cuba, meaning that the Jamaican monkey has a separate origin from the rest of the Antillean monkeys, making the group

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

. The

Cuban monkey ''Paralouatta'' is a platyrrhine genus that currently contains two extinct species of small primates that lived on the island of Cuba. Description ''Paralouatta varonai'' was described from a nearly complete cranium from the late Quaternary ...

s (''Paralouatta varonai'' and ''P. marianae'') of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

were originally thought to be in the tribe, but more recent research shows a closer relationship with ''

Alouatta 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 (''Atel ...

'', the howler monkeys.

Species

So far, three species of Xenotrichini are known: *The

Jamaican monkey The Jamaican monkey (''Xenothrix mcgregori'') is an extinct species of New World monkey that was endemic to Jamaica. It was first uncovered at Long Mile Cave by Harold Anthony in 1920. Discovery Harold Anthony is responsible for many species ...

(''Xenothrix mcgregori''), from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

. *The

(''Antillothrix bernensis''), from Hispaniola. *'' Insulacebus toussaintiana'', also from Hispaniola.

References

{{Carib mammals Prehistoric monkeys Extinct mammals Extinct animals of the Caribbean Holocene extinctions Fauna of the Greater Antilles Mammal extinctions since 1500 Mammal tribes