Lesula!

REFERENCE: Hart, JA et al. “Lesula: A New Species of Cercopithecus Monkey Endemic to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Implications for Conservation of Congo’s Central Basin.” PLoS One 7(9), e44271

                It hasn’t happened in 28 years.  It’s astonishing that scientists in the wild are still making these types of discoveries when our planet is so well recorded, watched, viewed and understood.  However, as is true with undiscovered people (the fact that locals most likely know about them while the world at large may not), the same is true of a new species discovery.  Anointed Cercopithecus lomamiensis, the commonly called lesula is only the second African monkey to be newly described in nearly three decades.  

                In June 2007, the primary school director for Opala in the Democratic Republic of Congo had a young female monkey in captivity.  A relative had killed the animal’s mother south of Opala in the forest near Yawende and care for the “lesula,” as he called her, passed to him.  Local hunters are well acquainted with the animals, but this was the first the authors had seen of them.  After this encounter, they inquired in neighboring areas and found several other young male and female captives.  In December 2007, the authors first observed the animals in the wild.

                The adult male C. lomameinsis is slender with long limbs.  The pale face has an elongated and narrow nose that is flanked by large eyes.  From the base of its tail to the neck area, the hairs are amber in color; tip of tail and length of limbs are black; his fluffy mane is a mix of black and gold.  The females are smaller and reach adult size (approximately 3 – 4 kg in comparison to the 4 – 7 kg males) by 15 months old.  

                Dawn breaks to the chorus of C. lomamiensis and its close relative C. hamlyni booms.  Past daybreak, the animals do not vocalize much and only occasionally after dark.  The booms “…are low frequency, tonal calls [with] longer duration and descending frequency from beginning to end.”  The authors recorded forty nine calls for analysis and report their frequency to be 215 Hz (start) and 199 Hz (end).  Given the amount of boom calls recorded, it was concluded that the many more of these shy animals are present in the forest than their number of sightings indicate.

 

                The monkeys are found in the upper Tshuapa and central Lomami basins.  They travel in groups of females with offspring and typically only one male.  The authors report an encounter involving a crowned eagle that left a young female lesula dead, but have not identified any further predators.  The areas these animals call home are currently not in danger of logging, mining, and human expansion, but hunting is cited as an immediate threat.  In the end, they argue for a protected area to ensure the survival of the lesula and the unique biodiversity of this part of the world.

(all pictures are directly from the article)