Monkey Species Not Seen Alive for 80 Years Rediscovered in the Amazon

Yale Environment 360
Published August 14, 2017 03:10 PM




Scientists have rediscovered a species of monkey in the Brazilian Amazon not seen alive since 1936, according to reporting by Mongabay.

The species, the bald-faced Vanzolini saki, was first discovered along the Rio Eiru more than 80 years ago by Alfonzo Olalla, an Ecuadorian naturalist. But scientists had found no other living evidence of the monkey since then. Earlier this year, a team of seven primatologists, led by Laura Marsh of the Global Conservation Institute, began a three-month expedition aboard a boat through the Upper Jurua River and its tributaries to search for the missing monkey and survey other wildlife in the remote region of Brazil.

The researchers first saw the species, which has a long fluffy tail and golden fur on its chest, legs, and arms, just four days into their survey trip. According to Mongabay, “over the next three months, the expedition found the monkeys distributed along the entirety of the surveyed areas of the southern tributaries of the Jurua in Amazonas state.”

But scientists warn that the newly rediscovered saki population lives dangerously close to Brazil’s “arc of deforestation.” The area, which borders the BR-364, a paved highway, is the scene of intense logging, agriculture, and ranching activities that could jeopardize the monkey’s habitat.

http://e360.yale.edu/digest/monkey-species-not-seen-alive-for-80-years-rediscovered-in-the-amazon

(Short article, no more at link.)


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Monkey rediscovered in Brazil after 80 years

by Christina Selby on 9 August 2017


EIRUNEPE, Brazil – An expedition exploring a remote watershed in the western Amazon has uncovered the first living evidence of a species of monkey not seen alive by scientists in 80 years, according to saki expert and expedition leader Dr. Laura Marsh. The account of the discovery will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Oryx.

Houseboat Amazon, a major biological expedition wrapped up earlier this year in the Upper Juruá watershed located in the Brazilian states of Acre and Amazonas. The three-month expedition was the first survey of primates and other mammals in the watershed in more than 60 years.

The main goal was to find the missing bald-faced Vanzolini saki, a large monkey with a long fluffy tail and golden fur on its arms and legs. Ecuadorian naturalist Alfonzo Olalla collected this species in 1936 along the Rio Eiru. His record was the first evidence of the Vanzolini saki and no other living evidence had been found in the area since.

Primatologist Laura Marsh spent ten years updating the saki monkey taxonomy. Earlier this year, Marsh contracted a two-story houseboat in Cruzeiro do Sul to serve as the field station for the expedition, and brought together a team of seven primatologists from Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and the U.S. plus guides, drone operators, and photographers. On February 1, Houseboat Amazon set off to search for the missing monkey.

More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/monkey-rediscovered-in-brazil-after-80-years/