A group of fluffy grey monkeys living in the Amazon rainforest belong to a new species. They were first spotted by biologists a century ago, but have only now been recognised by scientists as a distinct group.
Plecturocebus parecis lives on the Parecis plateau in Rondo虃nia in Brazil. The surrounding rainforest is being cut down, but so far the monkeys have survived, because the plateau鈥檚 steep sides make it hard to access.
They were first noticed by scientists in 1914, but were thought to be ashy black titis (P. cinerascens), a dark grey species first described in 1823.
Advertisement
鈥淭he biologist writing up his report in 1914 said 鈥榠t seemed like鈥� the ashy,鈥� says Adrian Barnett at the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil, who was part of the team that confirmed the new species. 鈥淗e was clearly in doubt.鈥� But no specimens had been collected, so the matter rested for decades.
Mariluce Messias at the Federal University of Rondo虃nia in Porto Velho came across the Parecis titi monkeys in 2011. She has spent the past few years studying the primates of Rondo虃nia in the face of rampant deforestation. Barnett describes her as 鈥渉eroic鈥�.
Unlike the ashy black titis, which are dark grey all over, the Parecis titis have chestnut brown backs and large white patches on their chests. They are known to the local indigenous people, the Parecis, as the 鈥渙to虃ho虃鈥�.
Further evidence that they are a separate species came when the team compared DNA from the Parecis titis with that of 10 other species, including ashy black titis, and . 鈥淭hat clinched it,鈥� says Barnett.
The team argues that the Parecis titi should be classed as 鈥淣ear Threatened鈥� on the . 鈥淭he range is small and the population restricted,鈥� says Barnett.
Messias was also involved in the discovery of the Munduruku marmoset in the south-eastern Amazon earlier this year. Barnett says more findings will probably follow. 鈥淥ne thing about deforestation is that it gives everyone access to remote areas, so sometimes scientists get to areas that have never been properly explored just before the chainsaws,鈥� he says.
The Parecis titi is the 20th new monkey species discovered in Brazil since 2000, and the third found in 2019, according to Barnett.
