Better looking than Menelik: Scientists discover new monkey species in Myanmar
Posted: 12 Nov 2020, 01:40
Scientists have discovered a new species of monkeys in central Myanmar with the help of a 100-year-old tissue sample.
© Thaung Win/German Primate Center (DPZ)- Lei/AFP via Getty Images A handout picture made available by the German Primate Center (DPZ)- Leibniz Institute for Primate Research on Nov. 10, 2020, shows an adult female and juvenile Popa langur (Trachypithecus popa) in the crater of Mount Popa, Myanmar Myanmar.
The primate, named Popa langur after the extinct volcano Mount Popa, has been "hiding in plain sight" in central Myanmar, according to the conservation organization Fauna & Flora International. The area of Mount Popa houses the largest population of the species.
The Popa langur is characterized by a dark brown or gray-brown back, with a sharply contrasting gray or whitish abdomen and black hands and feet, according to a new study published in the international scientific journal Zoological Research.
The species was once widespread in the central dry zone of Myanmar, researchers said. Only two populations of the monkeys were thought to have survived, one in Mount Popa and the other in Bago Yoma, but recent fieldwork has led to the discovery of three new populations, the researchers said. Scientists believe there are only about 200 to 250 living Popa langurs, and the species is considered to be critically endangered.
© Thaung Win/German Primate Center (DPZ)- Lei/AFP via Getty Images A handout picture made available by the German Primate Center (DPZ)- Leibniz Institute for Primate Research on Nov. 10, 2020, shows an adult female and juvenile Popa langur (Trachypithecus popa) in the crater of Mount Popa, Myanmar Myanmar.
The primate, named Popa langur after the extinct volcano Mount Popa, has been "hiding in plain sight" in central Myanmar, according to the conservation organization Fauna & Flora International. The area of Mount Popa houses the largest population of the species.
The Popa langur is characterized by a dark brown or gray-brown back, with a sharply contrasting gray or whitish abdomen and black hands and feet, according to a new study published in the international scientific journal Zoological Research.
The species was once widespread in the central dry zone of Myanmar, researchers said. Only two populations of the monkeys were thought to have survived, one in Mount Popa and the other in Bago Yoma, but recent fieldwork has led to the discovery of three new populations, the researchers said. Scientists believe there are only about 200 to 250 living Popa langurs, and the species is considered to be critically endangered.