A group of hitherto unknown monkeys has been
discovered in the Amazon forest by a Dutch
primatologist. The adult monkey is about 15
centimetres long and weighs just 180 grammes,
making it the second smallest monkey in the world.
Sue Branford, from the BBC Americas region, has
the details.
The Dutch primatologist, Marc van Roosmalen, had his
first sighting of the new monkey in 1996 when a local
fisherman brought the tiny animal to his house in
Manaus. Recognising it immediately as a new species,
Roosmalen set off in search of the monkey's home.
All he knew was that the monkey had come aboard a
boat somewhere along the 3,000 kilometre-long Madeira
river in the west of the Amazon basin. Everywhere he
went he showed people a snapshot of the monkey.
It was an eventful trip. People sometimes showed him
the 'wrong' monkey, and on four occasions these 'wrong'
monkeys proved also to be new species.
He also discovered a new tapir and a new jaguar.
Roosmalen decided that the region had more primates in
it than anywhere else in the world.
Finally Roosmalen tracked down the family of his original
monkey. The monkeys live on a tiny patch of land in a
region 300 kilometres south of Manaus.
They're being fed three times a day by a local fisherman.
But the region is already under threat.
The Madeira river is being widened so it can be used to
transport soyabeans for export. And, with the improved
access, loggers are already moving in.
Roosmalen is convinced that other new species of
monkeys will be wiped out before they have even been
discovered by scientists.