| Paralouatta Temporal range:Early Miocene-Quaternary | |
|---|---|
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| Paralouatta marianae skull | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Atelidae |
| Subfamily: | Alouattinae |
| Genus: | †Paralouatta Rivero & Arredondo 1991 |
| Type species | |
| †Paralouatta varonai Rivero & Arredondo 1991 | |
| Species | |
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Paralouatta is aplatyrrhinegenus that currently contains twoextinct species of smallprimates that lived on the island ofCuba.
Paralouatta varonai was described from a nearly completecranium from the lateQuaternary in 1991. This cranium and a number of isolated teeth and postcranial bones were found in theCueva del Mono, a cave site inPinar del Río Province. The initial description of the cranium included a proposal thatParalouatta varonai was a close Caribbean relative of the extantAlouatta (howler monkeys) of Central and South America,[1] but this taxonomic placement was called into question with the analysis of the dental remains.[2] Based on shared similarities with the three other Caribbean monkeys,Xenothrix mcgregori,Insulacebus toussaintiana, andAntillothrix bernensis, MacPhee and Horovitz have proposed that the Caribbean primates are part of a monophyletic radiation which entered the Caribbean at theOligocene–Miocene boundary. Further research confirms this assessment and places these three species in the tribeXenotrichini.[3] However, more recent research restores its close relationship withAlouatta.[4] The postcranial morphology ofParalouatta suggests that it was partly terrestrial,[5] and a likely example ofisland gigantism.[6]
A second species ofParalouatta (P. marianae) has also been described from theBurdigalian (~18 million years old)Lagunitas Formation and is the largestNeotropic primate known of that epoch.[6]
Paralouatta had an estimated body mass of 8.4 kg (19 lb).[4] Analysis of postcranial morphology suggests thatParalouatta was at least somewhat semi-terrestrial, making it the most terrestrial platyrrhine genus known.[7]
