Jamaican monkey

The Jamaican Monkey ( Xenothrix mcgregori ) is an extinct primate of the subordination of the New World monkeys. The species lived on the island of Jamaica and may become apparent only in the 18th century died out.

Until recently, this type of only parts of the mandible and a few other parts of the skeleton known, which were found in 1920 in a cave. The parts were discovered in a prehistoric kitchen waste and dated to around 200 BC. More recently, other parts of the skull were found in southern Jamaica.

The Jamaican monkey was probably a heavily built primacy, which slowly was moving along on all fours, possibly similar to the Potto. Cause and date of extinction is unknown, reports of early European settlers in Jamaica allow for the possibility that the species has survived into the 18th century.

The classification of this primate in the classification of living New World monkeys is difficult. Since there are no primates to the Caribbean Islands, the Fund has given rise to numerous speculations about extinct animals on these islands. Two other recently discovered extinct species, the Cuban Missile Monkey ( Paralouatta varonai ) and the Hispaniola Monkey prove ( Antillothrix bernensis ) that there has been in the Greater Antilles once a primate fauna.

Some researchers have made Jamaica monkeys near the marmosets or owl monkeys. Due to the recent discoveries but the thesis it and the above-mentioned two extinct species to a taxon named Antilles monkeys ( Xenotrichini ) intensifies summarize, their closest living relatives are the titi monkeys ( Callicebus ).