Black-handed spider monkeys have coarse, yellow-gray fur with yellowish-black or reddish sides. Their face is mostly black, except for the pink areas surrounding their mouth and eyes. Their underside is lighter yellowish or white, but they are black around their knees, hands, elbows, and feet. Their hands and feet have four fingers but no thumb, and their tail is long and prehensile (able to grasp). The underside of the end of the tail is a hairless fleshy pad that looks and functions a lot like the palm of a hand.