New species of monkey identified in Congo

A new species of monkey has been identified in Africa, only the second time in 28 years such a discovery has been made on the continent.

The finding in the Democratic Republic of Congo is significant, as identification of mammals new to science is rare.

Lesula ( Cercopithecus lomamiensis) has a naked face and a mane of long blond hairs, and is described by the researchers who identified it as shy and quiet. It lives both on the ground and in trees in a 17,000 square kilometre habitat of the lowland rainforests in the centre of the Congo between the middle Lomami and the upper Tshuapa rivers. Its diet is mostly fruit and vegetation.

Dr John Hart and his wife Dr 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 in the town of Opala. Later that year, the team found the species, which looks similar to the owl-faced monkey but has different colouring, 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.

The monkey lives mostly in small groups of one to five, and only one animal was seen on its own during eight encounters. In what they describe as an "exceptional" sighting, the researchers observed an apparent attack on one of the monkeys by a crowned eagle, which killed the female monkey.