Latest / Spoken News / A new species of black-and-white colobus monkey, likweli, is discovered in Lomami National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome to spoken News. I'm a computer. A new species
- 0:04of black and white Colobus monkey Liqueli is discovered in
- 0:08Lomami National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. The liqually is
- 0:13a species of Old World monkey in the coulibine genus Colobus.
- 0:18It is endemic to a small area of lowland rainforest
- 0:21between the Lomami River and the Lilo River in east
- 0:25central Democratic Republic of the Congo, most of which lies
- 0:28within Lomami National Park. Formerly described in twenty twenty six,
- 0:33it is the seventh recognized species of Colibus and the
- 0:36fifth new species of African monkey to be described in
- 0:38the previous seventy five years. The monkey is small and
- 0:42mostly black. It is distinguished by a pinkish to orange
- 0:46cream patch of bare skin around the mouth and nostrils,
- 0:50set against a dark face that includes a grayish mask
- 0:53around the eyes, and by a conspicuous white patch around
- 0:57the anus. Genetic, anatomical and acoustics evidence identify its closest
- 1:02relative as the black Colobus of West Central Africa, more
- 1:06than one two hundred kilometers away. The Liquelli is estimated
- 1:10to have diverged from the black Colobus approximately five million
- 1:14years ago, which is the deepest split known within the genus.
- 1:18Its discoverers have recommended that it be classified as endangered
- 1:22on the IUCN Red List. Black and white colobuses are
- 1:26Old World monkeys of the genus Colibus native to Africa.
- 1:31They are closely related to the red colibus monkeys of
- 1:33genus Pilio colobus. There are six species of this monkey
- 1:38and at least eight subspecies. They are generally found in
- 1:42high density forests, where they forage on leaves, flowers, and fruit.
- 1:46Social groups of Colobus are diverse, varying from group to group.
- 1:50Resident egalitarian and alamothering relationships have been observed among the
- 1:55female population. Complex behaviors have also been observed in this species,
- 2:00including greeting rituals and varying group sleeping patterns. Colobe plays
- 2:04a significant role in seed dispersal. Lomami National Park is
- 2:08a national park located in the Democratic Republic of the
- 2:11Congo in Central Africa. Situated within the center basin of
- 2:15the Lomami River, it straddles the provinces of Tashopo and Maniema,
- 2:19with a slight overlap into the forests of the Chuappa
- 2:22and Lualaba River basins. Lomami National Park was formerly declared
- 2:26on the seventh of July twenty sixteen as the ninth
- 2:29national park in the country and the first to be
- 2:31created since nineteen ninety two. Lomami National Park encompasses some
- 2:35eight eight hundred seventy nine square kilometers of lowland tropical rainforest,
- 2:40with some open forest savannah islands to the south and
- 2:43more hilly terrain to the west. It is home to
- 2:45several endangered species, including the bonobo, the okapi, and the
- 2:49congo pi fowl. It also harbours the lesola and the
- 2:53driest monkey, and the African forest elephant. That's it for now.
- 2:57See the episode notes for Wikipedia sources and licensing. Thank you.