New Species of Macaque

Scientists in India have found whatthey believe to be a new species of macaque monkey.

The simian was first observed on Aug. 19, 2003 in theextreme northeastern area of India’s Arunachal Pradesh territory, and is believed to be a differentMacaque taxon, or group biologists identify as beingseparate from a similar species.

"We thought it was a new taxonbecause it looked unusual, unlike any other macaque known to science," M.D. Madhusudan, a primary investigator of the monkey said. India ."We also realized that it may be a new species because it combinedmorphological traits of two species, and was therefore not a subspecies of analready known macaque species."

The researchers are proposing that the monkey, which they havedubbed the Arunachal macaque, be given the scientificdesignation of Macaca munzala whenthe details of its discovery are published in an upcoming issue of the International Journal of Primatology.These monkeys are generally large, heavyset, and dark brown, according to thepreliminary research.

Munzala,means the "deep forest monkey", in the Monpa dialectof the Buddhist tribe of the West Kamangand Tawang areas where conservationists observed theanimal. It has many similarities with other macaque species. It is distinct,however, in its extremely dark brown coat, stocky tail, dark brown facial skin,distinctive facial marks, and lack of a prominent chin and cheek whiskers,according unpublished research supplied.

"We quickly came to the conclusion that it is not a simplehybrid between two species because the two potential parental species, theAssamese and the Tibetan macaques, did not occur together in this area," Madhusudan explained. "And we found a significant number oftroops of this monkey over a very large area, over 460 square miles (about 1200square kilometers), troops in which all the members looked very similar to eachother. This is not expected if hybrids are constantly being produced todaybetween two parental species which co-occur together."

The researches hope to learn the total extent of the macaque’srange and numbers in the future. At present, they know that the primate livesin the high altitude, broad-leaved forests of India ’s sparsely populated northeasternclimbs, at elevations more than 11,400 feet (about 3500 meters). Researchers citethis as one possible reason that the monkey was not previously recognized as anew species.

"Not many biologists have traveled to this region lookingfor wildlife," Madhusudan said. "Those that have,until now, may actually have missed it. Some others that may have seen itbefore us may have overlooked the possibility of a new species, thinking itcould be a regional variant of one of the existing species."