Paralouatta marianae

Paralouatta marianae is an extinct monkey from the Burdigalian stage of the Early Miocene, about 18 million years ago, known from the Lagunitas Formation of Cuba. It is the second and much older species of the genus Paralouatta, whose better known member, Paralouatta varonai, lived on the island in the late Quaternary. P. marianae is the largest Neotropical primate known from its epoch. The genus is thought to have been a large island monkey, with an estimated body mass for the genus of about 8.4 kilograms, and postcranial evidence points to a partly terrestrial way of life. Its classification has been debated, with authors linking the genus either to a Caribbean radiation of monkeys or to the howler monkeys of the genus Alouatta.