New monkey species found in Africa

A new species of monkey has been found in the Congo rainforest in Africa. Yale University explains:

An international team of scientists, including Yale researchers, has described a new Colobus monkey species inhabiting high forest canopies in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is just the fifth new species of African monkey discovered in the past 75 years.

The species, Colobus congoensis, is a rare and cryptic monkey largely unknown even among people living within its range. But those who are familiar with the small, black monkeys — an arboreal creature marked by distinctive orange-cream patches around their mouths and noses — call them ‘Likweli,’ which the researchers recommend remain the species’ common name.

The identification of Likweli as distinct from other Colobus monkey species is supported by evidence drawn from its physical traits, genetics, and vocalizations….

In the past 75 years, only eight new ape and Old World monkey species from populations previously unknown to science have been discovered. Those include Lesula, a monkey species discovered in 2012 in the Congo Basin.

In 2024, scientists discovered over 100 new species in the sea east of New Zealand.

In 2023, a dog discovered a species of mole long thought to be extinct, De Winton’s golden mole.

Scientists discovered remarkably heat-resistant corals near off Western Australia in the Houtman Abrolhos archipelago.

A thriving deep-sea coral reef was discovered off of Argentina.

The endangered flat-headed cat was spotted in Thailand for the first time in 30 years.