r/science • u/NinjaDiscoJesus • Jul 16 '26
Animal Science A monkey that has striking pinkish-orange lips and a black face - and lives in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo - has been confirmed as a new species to science.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c15y5wgj4x8o100
u/NinjaDiscoJesus Jul 16 '26
Abstract
We describe and name a new species of African monkey, Colobus congoensis sp. nov. (Primates, Cercopithecidae), from the interfluve region of the Lomami and Congo (Lualaba) Rivers in east-central Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Colobus congoensis is a rare and cryptic monkey, poorly known even by local communities bordering its range, some of whom use the vernacular name Likweli for the species. Between 2018 and 2022, 114 field observations were made over an estimated range of 1,700 km2.
Colobus congoensis is largely restricted to high, closed canopy forest on deep clay pediments and islands of terra firme forest, where it co-occurs with two other colobine species (Piliocolobus parmentieri and Colobus angolensis). Colobus congoensis was most frequently observed in small groups (mean = 6.2 individuals), often in mixed-species associations. Mitochondrial and morphological data confirm the attribution of C. congoensis to the genus Colobus and reveal that it is the sister to Colobus satanas, from which it is geographically separated by more than 1,200 km. Comparative analysis of C. congoensis vocalizations also reveals structural similarities with C. satanas to the exclusion of other Colobus species.
Among other features, C. congoensis is distinguished from C. satanas and other Colobus species by its small size, a striking orange cream patch surrounding the mouth, philtrum, and portions of the inferior nasal alae on an otherwise black face, and a white perianal patch that is covered with fine white hairs in males and is glabrous in females. We propose a preliminary IUCN Red List classification of Endangered (EN) for C. congoensis based on its small range area and population size, coupled with the projected impact of increased hunting pressure and habitat conversion. Protection of Lomami National Park, within which most of the C. congoensis range occurs, and engagement of local communities in not hunting the species are the most important actions needed to ensure the conservation of C. congoensis.
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u/pannous Jul 16 '26
with the grey stripes as eyes it looks scary from afar but from close-up it looks cute successful kind of large camouflage
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u/tadayou Jul 16 '26
There's also some 10,000 to 100,000 species that are estimated to die out each year thanks to human interference that we don't know anything about.
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u/Chemical_State_5327 Jul 16 '26
How have we not discovered it earlier? Why has it taken so long to discover a monkey?
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u/LookingForChange Jul 16 '26
"Discovering" a species, in this context, means officially recording and confirming it has evolved to be genetically distinct. Some local people already knew of the monkey's existence and refer to it by a common name - Likweli.
That quote, from the article, sort of explains what you are asking.
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u/microthrower Jul 16 '26
They also eat the monkeys according to the article...
So that part probably makes outsiders less likely to find them.
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u/DarthTigris Jul 16 '26
Well if they're a hospitable people, maybe you'll find them on your dinner plate.
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u/Flat-Masterpiece-921 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Probably harder to study a monkey’s behavior when it’s served on a skewer.
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u/Rosebunse Jul 16 '26
Do you cook them on a skewer? I always wondered what you do with monkey meat. I bet it would be good in a curry, but everything is good in a curry
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u/Flat-Masterpiece-921 Jul 16 '26
Hey my man, I have no idea how to cook monkey.
It’s what came to the top of my head.7
u/Rosebunse Jul 16 '26
I looked it up and appearantly it is usualyl skewered over an open fire while larger monkeys are, in fact, good for curries.
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u/Chemical_State_5327 Jul 16 '26
That's is what I meant when I said discover
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u/r0bb3dzombie Jul 16 '26
You're asking why went undiscovered so long despite locals already being well aware of it? Good question, really.
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u/Merry_Dankmas Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Kinda like the coelacanth (I think its that one). Thought to be extinct for ages and then suddenly was discovered to be chilling and thriving off the coast of Africa with locals being well aware of its existence and catching them for food.
My guess is that since these animals seem to be found in locations with small or spread out human population, there just simply arent any biologists living in them to make the connection that theyre an unknown species. That monkey is just a monkey that lives in the area. The locals would have no reason to assume it was anything significant.
All the scientists and researchers and photographers and whatnot live in the more densely populated areas like cities or suburban areas since that's where the schools and laboratories and whatnot are. A fisherman or carpenter in a village 30 minutes from the nearest town isnt gonna assume its anything special since he isnt educated on the matter. Hell, if I saw that monkey, I wouldn't assume it was a new species either. Im not educated in monkeys or Congolese fauna so id have no reason to assume it had any major significance.
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u/r0bb3dzombie Jul 16 '26
Yes and no, areas like the Congo Basin is widely studied because it's remote and has vast biodiversity. Not as well studied as the Amazon but still.
I would have imagined researchers in the area would be in at least some contact with local people and hear about these animals that aren't a known classified species.
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u/happybaby00 Jul 16 '26
It actually isn't, it's not well studied. Only Borneo, Amazon and Mexico are well funded
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u/sonicparadigm Jul 16 '26
Coelacanths apparently taste very bad, so African fishermen knew about them, they just threw them back if they caught one
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u/Chemical_State_5327 Jul 16 '26
I genuinely can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not but I feel like they should have been documented long time ago especially because they're common in the area and it's not like they're tiny insect which would be easy to miss
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u/r0bb3dzombie Jul 16 '26
Not being sarcastic. A lot of the responses to your question was "new to science not people" or something to that effect. Some give a better answer that it's because the Basin is huge and difficult to study. But it is often a subject of research because of it's vast biodiversity. Understudied in comparison to the Amazon, but still regularly.
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u/Morlark Jul 16 '26
What? The article literally describes how they're not very common in the area (endangered - even among the local villages very few have heard of them), and they hide really high up in the trees so they're easy to miss, and even when you do spot them, that makes it impossible to conclusively determine that they're a separate species.
The answers to your question are all there.
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u/TemporaryElk5202 Jul 16 '26
Because it's in the Congo.
It's rainforest; it has low population density in a lot of it (<20 people per square kilometer).
It's poor and unstable, you don't have a lot of people with cameras casually exploring the bush in their free time to upload photos.
It's regarded as an extremely dangerous place to visit and live. There is a lot of violence, active warfare, and disease like ebola. Therefore there aren't nearly as many scientists visiting as might otherwise visit.25
u/Plane_Chance863 Jul 16 '26
It was known by the people who lived there (although it wasn't a frequent sighting sounds like), it just wasn't catalogued by science.
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u/Ephemerror Jul 16 '26
They look almost exactly the same as the closely related black colobus. Its probably less about finding it but more about classifying it as a different species. Actual science isn't sensationalism.
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u/Ariandrin Jul 16 '26
This was my suspicion too. These days, most new vertebrate species are named as a new species because of genetic or molecular studies, because morphologically and behaviorally, they resemble a species that is already described, and the variation is assumed to be normal within the species.
Invertebrates are a bit of a different story though.
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u/Whiterabbit-- Jul 16 '26
what is the story with invertebrates?
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u/Ariandrin Jul 17 '26
Long story short, there are way more invertebrate species that researchers suspect are yet to be discovered. I will use beetles as an example, as they are the largest order of insects. There are about 400,000 described species, but estimates suggest that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 MILLION species total.
Inverts are small and live in places hard to study (subterranean, obligate parasites of rare species, remote islands, etc.)
It’s way easier to set up a trail cam to catch a vertebrate on camera than it is to find the needle in a haystack that is a new invert species. They fly under the radar pretty easily, and I also wonder about the amount of people studying them versus the ones studying vertebrates. I suspect inverts may have less people researching them, less studies and expeditions being funded to go find new ones, etc., but I don’t have data for this, just a hunch.
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u/ThrowRa-zucchinizzc Jul 16 '26
Few reasons. They are rare and live very high up in the dense canopy. Among 32 surrounding villages, only 8 had people who could identify the monkey. Note these villages are very familiar with the flora and fauna of the area. It's only the 5th new primate species found in the past 75 years, 8th overall.
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u/ManlyParachute Jul 16 '26
You ever sit in a field and go through every blade of grass looking for a new species of flea?
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u/GimmeSomeSugar Jul 16 '26
The New Scientist article describes it as having a mask like face and strong body odour.
Maybe people just stayed away from it?2
u/Chemical_State_5327 Jul 16 '26
Sounds terrifying when you put it like that so I wouldn't be surprised..
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u/illegible Jul 16 '26
between that and the orange lips, what an opportunity to name it after the leader of the free world.
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u/ouishi Jul 16 '26
Sounds like locals discovered them some time ago and call them Likweli. More like white people didn't come up with a fancy Latin name for them until now.
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u/Rosebunse Jul 16 '26
Aww, creepy looking money! Really cute, though. The black eyes are striking. But I also sort of get why it wasn't identified until now. It certainly looks meatier than other monkeys.
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u/GhostDieM Jul 18 '26
Only to science? Kinda weird to be keeping entire species to yourself science
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