Discover new monkey species in the Amazon rainforest

Ecologists have just discovered a completely new species of monkey that lives in remote areas of Amazon.

Munduruku mico is the name of the new monkey. It stands out from other small monkey monkeys of Amazon with a unique snow white tail. Usually, they have a black tail.

Most of these monkey-related specimens were collected by naturalists and professional collectors in the 18th and 19th centuries. This means that the specimens available for study were taken from Some locations, while the actual samples are not much.

Sketch pictures of newly discovered monkeys in Amazon.

Rodrigo Costa-Araújo from the Amazon National Research Institute in Brazil, for the first time, came across this new species of a group of three monkeys sitting on the treetop of southeastern Amazon near the Tapajos river and Jamanxim.

To find out more, Costa-Araújo and his team organized 10 expeditions from 2015 to 2018 to "key" areas in southern Amazon without much information about this new monkey to record. Geographic coordinates as well as time and type of habitat for each area of ​​the white-tailed marmoset are seen. The researchers also collected five samples for further inspection under a license issued by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, a division of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment.

The signs and pigments of new monkeys are the first characteristics that distinguish them from other species in the genus. In addition to having a white tail, the individuals also have a beige yellow back, white hands, white feet and white forearm with a yellow bezel at the elbow.

Their DNA is the second concern. Costa-Araújo and his team explain their genome to be closely related but separate from other known small monkeys of Amazon.

Other cases show that Mico munduruku can be found in an area of ​​about 55,000 square kilometers, an area consisting of seven localities. Unfortunately, this is an area facing widespread environmental degradation as a product of illegal logging and exploitation. The plan to build four new hydropower plants also poses a threat to the only animals discovered recently.

"We need to pay attention to its existence. Threats will only increase when hydropower plants and additional infrastructure projects such as roads and transmission lines are completed. , creating stronger settlements and deforestation in the region , 'the researchers warn.