New species of monkey discovered

[SUBLIMINAL 52]

A new monkey species in Burma, South-East Asia, is so snub-nosed that rainfall is sad to make it sneeze—but that's the least of it's problems.

The only scientifically observed specimen (pictured above) had been killed by local hunters by the time researches found it, and it was eaten soon after. Local demand for monkey meat is but one reason the new species is already considered endangered.

Scientists first discovered "Snubby"—as they nicknamed the species—from hunters in the remote, mountainous Kachin state in early 2010, according to the U.K. based conservation group Flora & Fauna International (FFI), which announced the discovery Wednesday.

The hunters told the team about R. Strykeri's fleshy lips, upturned nose, and odd respiratory issue: rain falling into the monkeys' noses possibly causes the animals to sneeze, so they often spend soggy days with their heads tucked between their knees, the hunters said.

"We were surveying during the rainy season, and we were asking, 'Does it make sense to survey these monkeys in the rainy season?'" said Frank Momberg, FFI's Asia-Pacific development director. The hunters said, "'Of course! It's much easier to find them due to the sound.'"

"Hunters hunt them more often in the rainy season, because they are much easier to locate—normally they're too quiet."

Eventually other members of the team did find live snub-nosed monkeys, but the creatures escaped before pictures could be taken. FFI has, however, released a photo composite of the dead R. strykeri's face on the torso of a live monkey of a different species.

Other snub-nosed monkey species are known from China and Vietnam, but R. strykeri is the first known species in Myanmar (Burma). Ranging across about a hundred square miles (270 square kilometers), the new species is also distinguished by its wispy white beard and ear tufts as well as its relatively long tail, according to FFI.

Generally preferring bear meat, the local hunters don't usually target the snub-nosed monkey, Momberg said. But "when a hunter comes across a monkey and there's nothing more delicious, he will shoot it." The bush-meat trade is just one of the pressures facing R. strykeri.

Chinese logging companies, for example, are encroaching on the new snub-nosed monkey's habitat, FFI says. And with logging comes more than habitat destruction.

As trees are extracted, so are the roots that anchor soil to steep mountains, leading to increased landslide risks. And as logging camps proliferate, so do guns, traps, and demand for bush meat.

Based on talks with the Lisu hunters, scientists estimate that only about 300 of these monkeys remain—few enough to qualify R. strykeri for "critically endangered" status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, FFI says.

But if the new species' noisy sneeze gives them away to hunters—and presumably other predators—why did R. strykeri evolve its odd face? To find out, Momberg said, "we would need to habituate a group of these monkeys [to humans] and then observe them in the wild. That would take at least a year."

[Prism 8]

Looks like the lovechild of Elvis and Skeletor.

THEY MUST LIVE BECAUSE OF THIS ALONE.

[Nyasagi 259]

Is it only me who sees that or is the penis of this monkey on the first pic going out? ;D (I can see something red xD)

[Number Girl 48]

Kinda creepy. . .

[Vurtox 3]

THE FUCK IS THAT?

I must have one.

[LIDL 692]

whoa! Looks wild.

The second picture are kinda stylish though, the hair

[ramrod 108]

its cute!

[saishuu 3220]

Is that Joan Rivers?

[Miasma 162]

Cool! The monkey in the second picture looks like Michael Jackson! Yet, it's strangely cute.

Really cool news though. I usually ignore anything about a "new species", because it's usually just some fish with an extra speckle on it's fin. Although, it's sad to hear that the monkey is reported to be near extinct.

[LIDL 692]

anything cool are always rare D:

[tosinn 3]

Lol, looks exactly like an old classmate of mine. Funny thing was that I had a crush on him. I just didn't realize he had a monkey-face back then -.-

[LIDL 692]

^ LOL. sounded mean but funny.

anyway,