• In 1806 Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire named the species Ateles, which means "imperfect" in Latin, because of its missing thumb.  The species is actually advanced in the evolutionary  scheme of things  (the first metacarpal is still present where the thumb once was), and  the thumb appears to have been a hindrance  when swinging through the upper canopy .  Then, to add insult to ignorance, the black-handed spider monkey, Ateles geoffroyi, was named after Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire.  
  • Spider monkeys are still hunted for subsistence (and both Chiquito and Lolita were orphaned when their mothers were killed for bush meat).   Spider monkeys "are among the preferred primates and mammals in Central and South America.  In general, Ateles, especially females, are considered more tasty and fatty."  (Spider Monkeys; Behavior, Ecology and Evolution of the Genus Ateles, ed Christina J. Campbell, 2008.)   The problem is that when a species doesn't reach sexual maturity until 5 or 6 years of age, only produces one offspring every 2 or 3 years, and females are targeted, hunting leads to extinction.
  • The female spider monkey has a pendulous hypertrophied clitoris, whereas the the flaccid penis of the male is rarely visible.  Present at birth, the clitoris can be used to identify the sex of an infant.  "Variation in clitoral length appears to be governed by genetics...and one matriline of females (determined by observational data and mitochondrial DNA) all have visually much longer clitorides than other females in the group (C. J. Campbell, unpublished data)."
  • Spider monkeys embrace when they meet after a separation.  "The embracing pair may be standing, or one of both individuals may be sitting.  Embraces frequently involve pectoral sniffing, in which a monkey brings his/her face to the mid-sternal region, where a scent glad is located, of the other monkey.  Soft whinnies often accompany embraces and pectoral sniffing.  Virtually all (90%) embraces were between adults and were mostly with same-sex partners."  Behavioral ecology and fission-fussion dynamics of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in lowland, wet forest; Jennifer Anne Weghorst; 2007 dissertation; Washington University in St. Louis.

Picture
  • This work is titled Self-Portrait with Monkey 1938 by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954), who kept several spider monkeys as pets.  The most famous was Fulang Chang, who lived and died in Mexico City.  In 2005 Self-Portrait with Monkey and Parrot 1942 sold for $3.2 million at Sotheby's in New York.
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