Lost World of the Amazon Yields New Species of Monkey

The Amazon jungle has always been a source of fascination to scientists. Back in the days of H.G. Wells, fictional explorers of the Lost World discovered a plateau where dinosaurs still roam. Today, despite massive clear cutting and development, parts of the Amazon are still a "lost world" where new species have yet to be discovered.

While researchers are fairly used to finding new species of insects, bacteria, or even plants, it's been a long time since anyone found a new form of mammal. A few days ago, though, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced the discovery of a new sub-species of monkey. Not surprisingly, the monkey lives only in the deepest, darkest depths of the Amazon rain forest.

The little gray and brown monkey weighs a little less than half a pound and is less than 10 inches high. Researchers named it the Mura's saddleback tamarin after the Mura Indian tribe of the Purus and Madeira River basins where it was found.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the monkey was discovered at a critical moment, when development is already threatening the region. Plans are underway for a major highway through the forest that could easily become a route for loggers.

Fabio Rohe, the lead author of a study confirming the new discovery, notes: "This discovery should serve as a wake-up call that there is still so much to learn from the world's wild places, yet humans continue to threaten these areas with destruction."

Photo courtesy of WWF-Canon / André BÄRTSCHI.