[Illustration: THE VARIEGATED SPIDER-MONKEY.]
{231}The Coaitas are like the rest of the _Cebidæ_, essentially
quadrupedal, but they occasionally assume the erect posture. They are
purely arboreal in habit, living in small companies in the very high trees
of the forest.
Their geographical distribution is very wide. They extend over the whole
area of the _Cebidæ_, _i.e._, over two of the sub-regions, the Brazilian
and Mexican, of the Neotropical Region.