A new species of monkey with only a few hundred animals has been discovered in Myanmar, the researchers behind this rare discovery announced.
According to AFP, the small primate, whose body measures between 50 and 60 centimeters, was named Popa langur by researchers from the German Primate Center (DPZ) and the environmental NGO Fauna and Flora International (FFI), which identified it after long research.
It is a species of langur (scientifically called Trachypithecus), a monkey endemic to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, named after Mount Popa, a sacred site built on an ancient volcano in central Myanmar, where the most important group of the species was located, bringing together around a hundred individuals. Three other groups of Trachypithecus popa have been identified in central Burma, with a total of between 200 and 250 individuals.
"Barely identified, the Popa langur is already threatened with extinction," Frank Momberg, one of the FFI researchers, warned in a statement.
The new species has been identified by comparing the DNA taken from the droppings of different populations of Trachypithecus, wild or in captivity, and historical specimens kept in British, German, American and Singapore museums.
"The final DNA analysis of a specimen collected for the Natural History Museum in London over 100 years ago helped determine the characteristics of this new species, which was separated from the other langurs about a million years ago," explained Christian Roos, researcher from the DPZ.
The new monkey has some distinct characteristics including its color, length of its tail and the size of its skull, according to the researchers.
"The FFI and others will carry out further studies in this field and will now take urgent protection measures to preserve the langurs," announced primatologist Ngwe Lwin, of the NGO's Burmese project.
