Birds on the Brain

rhamphotheca:

New-Species “Heaven” Discovered in Peru

by Kate Andries

A new species of night monkey (pictured) is one of eight new mammals found during an expedition to northern Peru’s Tabaconas Namballe National Sanctuary (map), scientists announced recently.

A team of Mexican and Peruvian biologists found this “new heaven of unknown biodiversity” during a 2009-2011 expedition, according to a press statement.

Rarely seen and little-studied, night monkeys are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and endangered by the Peruvian government, making the new discovery especially notable.

The as yet unnamed new species was found close to the border of Ecuador, said expedition co-leader Gerardo Ceballos, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Compared with two other species of night monkey in the region, the new one has a more uniform color and smaller skull…

(read more: National Geo)         

(photos: TL - Night Monkey - Alexander Pari; TR - Small-eared Shrew - Cesar Medina; BL - Common Shrew Opossum - Kateryn Pino; BR - Enigmatic Porcupine - A. Pari)