A 10 year study of the saki monkey has revealed the existence of five new monkeys, bringing the total number of different saki species to 16.
“I began to suspect there might be more species of saki monkeys when I was doing field research in Ecuador,” said lead author Dr Laura K. Marsh, primate ecologist and director of the Global Conservation Institute.
“The more I saw, the more I realised that scientists had been confused in their evaluation of the diversity of sakis for over two centuries.”
Saki monkeys are a secretive group of primates native to the tropical forests of South America. They are often hunted for food, even though their elusive behaviour makes them difficult to find. The five new species are found in Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia – three of them are endemic to Brazil and one to Peru.
This revision increases the number of primates in Brazil to 145; the highest diversity for any single nation.
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