New monkey species identified in Democratic Republic of Congo

A new species of monkey; the lesula. 

According to this article, a new species of monkey has been identified in Africa, only the second time such a discovery has been made on the continent in 28 years. Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) has a naked face and a mane of long blond hairs, it lives on the ground and in trees in a 6,500 square mile habitat of the lowland rainforests and the upper Tshuapa Rivers. Its diet is mostly fruit and vegetation. John and Terese Hart of Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History first saw the species in 2007 at the home of a primary school director, who was keeping a young female captive. Later that year, the team found the species in the wild. Genetic tests later verified it was a new species. "This was a totally unexpected find, and we knew we had something unusual and possibly unknown when we first saw the animal. But it was not until we had the genetic and morphological analyses of our collaborating team that we knew we really had a new species," said the Harts, who are also conservation biologists at the Lukuru WildlifeResearch Project. "The challenge now is to make the lesula an iconic species that carries the message for conservation for all of Congo's endangered fauna," said John Hart. "Species with small ranges like the lesula can move from vulnerable to seriously endangered over the course of just a few years."

 (Cercopithecus lomamiensis)