Also quata. [Tupi coatá, cuatá, coaitá = Red-faced Spider-monkey. The erroneous spelling coaiti has led to confusion with the coati, a very different animal.]
The Red-faced Spider-monkey (Ateles paniscus) found in the woods of tropical South America, about 18 inches long, covered with long coarse hair of a glossy black. Also applied to other species of Ateles.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist., II. 370. The coaiti [ed. 1862 coati] may be distinguished by having no thumb.
1796. Stedman, Surinam, II. xvi. 10. A large company of quatas … one of the most remarkable species of monkies in the world.
1834. Penny Cycl., II. 547/1. The Quata or as the French write it, coaïta.
1852. Th. Ross, trans. Humboldt’s Trav., II. xx. 271. The coaïta.
1864. Bates, Nat. Amazons, ix. 266. I had not before met with the White-whiskered Coaita, or spider-monkey.
Coaiti, erroneous form of COATI, and COAITA.
