New Species of Monkey Discovered in Remote Colombian Amazon

A new species of titi monkey has been discovered in the Colombian Amazon, according to a report in the journal Primate Conservation. Scientists from the National University of Colombia say they discovered the monkey, dubbed the Caquetá titi (Callicebus caquetensis), during an expedition in the Department of Caquetá near the border with Ecuador and Peru, a region that until recently had been difficult for researchers to study because of the presence of insurgent groups. The new species was discovered during a 2008 expedition but only announced this week. The creature, which is about the size of a cat, has a grayish-brown coat and a bushy red beard on its cheeks, but does not have a white bar on its forehead like most other species of the Callicebus monkey. “This discovery is extremely exciting because we had heard about this animal, but for a long time we could not confirm if it was different from other titis,” said Thomas Defler, one of the scientists credited with discovering the monkey. Unfortunately, researchers say the species is likely endangered because of the loss of its forest habitat for agricultural uses, and estimate that fewer than 250 Caquetá titi monkeys exist. The discovery is one of many new species of animals that have come to light in recent years.