New Species of Monkey Been Hiding in the Amazon

A new, unknown species of monkey was found during recent hunting trips in the Amazon, an expert Jean-Phillipe Boubli of the University of Auckland, New Zealand has announced.

The animal was found after following native Yanomamo Indians on their hunts along the Rio Aracá, a tributary of the Rio Negro in Brazil.

"They told us about this black uakari monkey, which was different to the one we knew from Pico de Neblina National Park, where I'd worked earlier," Boubli said.

"I searched for that monkey for at least five years. The reason I couldn't find it was because the place where they were was sort of unexpected."

Uakaris normally live in habitats like flooded river forests, but this one turned up in a mountainous region on the Brazil-Venezuela border, far from its nearest relatives, this may be because there are too types of monkey in this region that are physiologically very similar.  There may have been a feud and the two types split a long time ago and since have adapted to there immediate habitats.

Already Vulnerable
Boubli named the new monkey Cacajao ayresii after Brazilian biologist José Márcio Ayres.

As a senior zoologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Ayres—who died in 2003—helped create a protected zone in the heart of the Amazon.

But the newfound Ayres uakari, Boubli said, appears confined to a very small area outside any preserve and is hunted by locals.

"We're going to have to create a park or reserve, because [its habitat is] not a protected area," he said.

"The population is quite small, so they are quite vulnerable. I'm a bit concerned." Little is known about the creature's habits, but Boubli said it lives in social groups and is likely a seed-eater, based on his observations of other uakaris.

Anthony Rylands, a primatologist at Conservation International, said work such as Boubli's is vital to wildlife protection.

"Many of these tropical forests are being destroyed now, There's a desperate need to save these animals, but we really need to know what animals we're trying to save and where they live."

Rylands also said that today more new primate species are being described because of advances in DNA recognition technology.

"The sophistication of genetic analysis from just about any material—hair, feces—means we're able to get a much more precise view of primate diversity."

"Some of them, especially the nocturnal ones, are really quite cryptic—you can never recognize the differences simply by looking."

"Now … we've suddenly begun to realize that animals we previously considered to be one species are completely different creatures."

Looking back at a previous post could this Uakari monkey also be quick to learn and adapt as the Benobo monkeys have ?