A Historical Reassessment of the Authorship Year of Brachyteles arachnoides (Primates: Atelidae)
José E. Serrano‐Villavicencio, Joyce R. Prado

TL;DR
This paper reevaluates the historical authorship of the primate species Brachyteles arachnoides, arguing that the correct date is 1809, not 1806, based on examination of a verified specimen.
Contribution
The paper challenges the traditional 1806 authorship of Brachyteles arachnoides and establishes 1809 as the correct date with a verified holotype specimen.
Findings
The 1806 description of Brachyteles arachnoides lacks verifiable material and is considered a nomen dubium.
The 1809 description, based on specimen MNHN-ZM-2007-1475, is validated as the correct authorship date.
Historical trade data suggests that 18th-century Jamaica likely hosted Colombian/Panamanian primates, not Brazilian ones.
Abstract
The authorship of Brachyteles arachnoides has traditionally been ascribed to É. Geoffroy Saint‐Hilaire, 1806. However, É. Geoffroy Saint‐Hilaire's original description was based entirely on secondary accounts, namely, Browne's (1756) Simia 2 and Edwards' (1764) report of a brown, long‐limbed, and four‐fingered monkey, without directly examining specimens or illustrations. Browne's Simia 2 describes a large brown primate with a prehensile tail and four‐fingered hands in Jamaica, characteristics that could apply to either Ateles or certain Brachyteles populations. Edwards' account, meanwhile, references two four‐fingered “spider monkeys” observed in London but lacks sufficient detail for definitive taxonomic assignment. Historical trade data further undermine this link, as 18th‐century Jamaica likely hosted Colombian/Panamanian primates, with no evidence of Brazilian primate imports.…
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Taxonomy
TopicsSpecies Distribution and Climate Change · Primate Behavior and Ecology
