Catswatch

For the first time scientists have identify a new genus of living African primate. The monkey was dubbed Rungwecebus kipunji for home range of Mt. Rungwe in Tanzania.

Scientists first described the Kipunji in 2005 and noted that it differed in appearance and behavior from other known species of monkeys. They first classified it in the genus Lophocebus, which includes three other species of monkey called Mangabeys. However, that classification was based only on field observations and photographs.
In August 2005, a farmer found a monkey matching the description of the Kipunji dead in a trap and turned the carcass over to the Wildlife Conservation Society in Tanzenia and the Field museum of Natural History in Chicago. The Field Museum sent the muscle tissue samples for genetic analysis. Genetic evidence showed that the kipunji is more closely related to Baboon in the genus Papio than to members of the genus Lophocebus.

However, both field observations and analysis of the animal’s physical characteristics revealed multiple differences between the Kipunji and Baboons. It could not be classified in either the genus Papio or Lophocebus, hence the birth of the new genus Rungwecebus.read summary...