A Marvelous Monkey
By Cameron Keady
September 17, 2012
Summary:
On September 12 scientists have found a new specie of monkeys in Opala in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The new specie was named "Lesula" short for it's Latin name: Cercopithecus lomamiensis. It lives in rain forests throughout Central Africa. The monkey weighs about 5 kilograms and is about 50 centimeters tall. It's fur is blond and has a white stripe on its nose. The lesula eats mostly fruits and plants so it is a herbivore. This monkey was compared to the Cercopithecus hamlyni (known as the owl-faced monkey) and they saw that the lesula and the owl-faced monkey were similar in size and both had a stripe on their nose. The researchers found out that these two monkeys are relatives but they are not from the same specie. This specie was already known and hunted by hunters in the rain forests and scientists say that while this discovery shows that there is many more species to be discovered it also shows us the importance of preserving our rain forests and the effects of illegal logging and hunting.
This article is connected to what we are learning in science class we are learning about classification of the animal kingdom and the Lesula monkey is a placental mammal and a vertebrate. I think that this event affects our society in a good way because it is good when scientists discover new species of animals because they can protect them from extinction. I chose this article because it is connected to what we are studiying in class (animals) and because I am interested in animals and how scientists discover them. What I found interesting and surprising about this article is that thie only the second of discovered monkey species in 28 years.
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