Belongs within: Atelidae.
Ateles, the spider monkeys, is a genus of agile arboreal monkeys found in Central and northern South America. They have particularly long limbs that are used in combination with the prehensile tail to manoeuvre through the trees. Their brachiating abilities are also facilitated by reduction of the thumbs.
The type species of the genus is the black spider monkey Ateles paniscus, found north of the lower Amazon, in which the hair is entirely black (Groves 1991).
Characters (Nowak 1999): Head and body length 382-635 mm, tail length 508-890 mm. Hair usually coarse, stringy, occasionally soft and fine; underfur lacking; coloration above yellowish grey, darker grey, reddish brown, darker brown or almost black; sides golden yellow to rufous; underparts lighter, usually whitish or yellowish; face usually black with light eye-rings, occasionally flesh-coloured. Clitoris of female greatly enlarged. Tail and legs exceptionally long relative to body length; tail prehensile and extremely flexible. Thumbs poorly developed or absent.
Ateles Geoffroy 1806 (see below for synonymy)C57
| i. s.: A. anthropomorphus [=Montaneia anthropomorpha]G91
|--+--*A. paniscus (Linnaeus 1758)C57, FS15, C57 (see below for synonymy)
| `--+--A. chamek (Humboldt 1812)FS15, C57 (see below for synonymy)
| `--A. marginatus Geoffroy 1809FS15, C57 (see below for synonymy)
`--+--A. fusciceps Gray 1866FS15, C57 [=A. fuscipes (l. c.)C57, Ateleus fuscicepsC57]
| |--A. f. fuscicepsC57
| `--A. f. robustus Allen 1914 [incl. A. dariensis Goldman 1915]C57
`--+--A. hybridus Geoffroy 1829FS15, C57 (see below for synonymy)
`--+--A. belzebuth Geoffroy 1806FS15, C57 (see below for synonymy)
`--A. geoffroyiFS15
|--A. g. geoffroyiANG03
|--A. g. frontatusBP87
|--A. g. grisescens Gray 1866 (see below for synonymy)C57
|--A. g. ornatusANG03
|--A. g. panamensisBP87
`--A. g. vellerosusG91
Ateles Geoffroy 1806 [=Ateleus Fischer 1813, Atelius Fischer 1813; incl. Ameranthropoides Montandon 1929, Atelocheirus Geoffroy 1806, Montaneia Ameghino 1911, Sapajus Kerr 1792 (nom. rej.), Sapaja Ritgen 1874, Sapajou Lacépède 1799]C57
Ateles belzebuth Geoffroy 1806FS15, C57 [=Simia belzebuthC57; incl. A. bartlettii Gray 1867C57, A. braccatus Pelzeln 1883 (n. n.)C57, Cebus brissonii Fischer 1829C57, A. chuva Schlegel 1876C57, A. fuliginosus Kuhl 1820C57, A. problema Schlegel in Jentink 1892 (n. n.)C57]
Ateles chamek (Humboldt 1812)FS15, C57 [=Simia chamekC57, A. paniscus chamekG91, Cebus chamekC57; incl. Ateles longimembris Allen 1914C57, A. ater peruvianus Lönnberg 1940C57]
Ateles geoffroyi grisescens Gray 1866 [=Ateleus grisescens; incl. Ateles cucullatus Gray 1866, Ateleus cucullatus, Ateles rufiventris Sclater 1872, Ateleus rufiventris]C57
Ateles hybridus Geoffroy 1829FS15, C57 [=Ateles belzebuth hybridusC57, Ateleus hybridusC57, Eriodes hybridusC57; incl. Ateles belzebuth brunneus Gray 1870C57, Ameranthropoides loysi Montandon 1929C57]
Ateles marginatus Geoffroy 1809FS15, C57 [=Ateleus marginatusC57, Ateles belzebuth marginatusG91, Cebus marginatusC57, Simia marginataC57; incl. Ateles albifrons Schinz 1844 (n. n.)C57, Ateles frontalis Bennett 1831C57]
*Ateles paniscus (Linnaeus 1758)C57, FS15, C57 [=Simia paniscusC57, Ateleus paniscusC57, Cebus paniscusC57, Sapajou paniscusC57, Simia (Sapajus) paniscusC57; incl. Ateles ater Cuvier 1823C57, Ateleus aterC57, Cebus aterC57, Sapajou aterC57, C. paniscus cayennensis Fischer 1829C57, Ateles pentadactylus Geoffroy 1806C57, C. pantadactylusC57, Sapajou pentadactylusC57, Ateles subpentadactylus Desmarest 1820C57, Cebus paniscus surinamensis Fischer 1829C57]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[ANG03] Asher, R. J., M. J. Novacek & J. H. Geisler. 2003. Relationships of endemic African mammals and their fossil relatives based on morphological and molecular evidence. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 10 (1–2): 131–194.
[BP87] Burton, J. A., & B. Pearson. 1987. Collins Guide to the Rare Mammals of the World. Collins: London.
[C57] Cabrera, A. 1957. Catalogo de los mamiferos de America del Sur. I (Metatheria—Unguiculata—Carnivora). Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia” e Instituto Nacional de Investigacion de Las Ciencias Naturales, Ciencias Zoológicas 4 (1): 1–307.
[FS15] Faurby, S., & J.-C. Svenning. 2015. A species-level phylogeny of all extant and late Quaternary extinct mammals using a novel heuristic-hierarchical Bayesian approach. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 14–26.
[G91] Groves, C. P. 1991. A Theory of Human and Primate Evolution revised ed. Clarendon Press: Oxford.
Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker’s Mammals of the World. JHU Press.