New monkey species identified in Tanzania

May 11 (Reuters)
A new species of monkey identified in Tanzania's highlands last year is an even more remarkable find than thought -- it is a new genus of animal, scientists said on Thursday.

The new monkey, at first called the highland mangabey but now known as kipunji, is more closely related to baboons than to mangabey monkeys, but in fact deserves its own genus and species classification, the researchers reported in the journal Science.

So they have re-named it Rungwecebus kipunji, and it is the first new genus of a living primate from Africa to be identified in 83 years.

Although I found the name "Rungwecebus kipunji" hard to pronunce, I must say this is pretty cool news.
"The age of discovery is by no means over"

The sad news is that this cool monkey lives in an endangered time

Vaak

The Rungwecebus kipunji sports a distinctive Mohawk stripe of hair


They live in trees for the most part, they rarely come to the ground - and when they are in the trees they remain relatively hidden. This coupled with the fact that the places where the Kipunji are known are infrequently visited by outsiders is what probably led to them being unknown for so long

Always good to hear about a fellow simian making his/her debut to the world.

All hail the Rungwecebus kipunji!

Man I thought I was looking at my ex wife there.
Just kidding. I think it is amazing that another species is found here on the little blue ball. It only goes to show what we "DON'T" know about our planet. Excellent photos and all.