''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 Ceboidea ...

. Fossils of this species were found in

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

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

Atelidae The Atelidae are one of the five family (biology), 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 monkey, howler, spider monkey, ...

genus, ''

Protopithecus ''Protopithecus'' is an extinct genus of large New World monkey that lived during the Pleistocene. Fossils have been found in the Toca da Boa Vista cave of Brazil, as well as other locales in the country. Fossils of another large, but less robu ...

''.

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 Neotropics and are among the largest of the platyrrhines along with the muriquis (''Brachyteles''), the spider monkeys (''Atele ...

, 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 (''Atele ...

. 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

Prehistoric primate genera Pleistocene primates Pleistocene mammals of South America Pleistocene Brazil Fossils of Brazil New World monkeys Prehistoric monotypic mammal genera {{Primate-stub