New Monkey Species Discovered - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.
A new species of monkey has been discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Making this monkey only the second primate to be discovered in a 28 year period.
Although the new breed of monkey is well known to locals as “lesula,” scientists had never encountered it before. The habitat that the monkeys populate is believed to be about 65 hundred square miles, which is relatively small.
This means that the monkeys could easily become endangered in a matter of years. The researchers first saw one of the monkeys in captivity as a pet.
The owner said hunters had killed the monkey’s parents.
Doctor John Hart told BBC Nature: "The discovery of the lesula has extended our knowledge of the evolution and ecology of African monkeys, and in particular has confirmed the importance of a previously little-known region for primate diversity."
Hart is working to make the Lomani Basin area, where they found the lesula, a national park in order to protect the habitat of rare and endangered species
