International team of scientists discovers new pri...( Fairbanks Alaska--In January 2006 sci...)

Half a world away, in a laboratory at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Assistant Professor Link Olson and undergraduate biology major Kyndall Hildebrandt were looking at DNA test results that pointed to an even more notable finding.

The monkey wasn't just an example of a new species; it belonged to a new genus.

"A new genus in any living mammal group is noteworthy," said Olson, who also serves as the curator of mammals at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. "Finding a new genus in the best-studied group of living mammals is a sobering reminder of how much we have to learn about the planet's biodiversity."

This is the first time in 83 years that scientists have identified a new genus of living African primate. A paper detailing the discovery is slated to be published in the journal Science on June 2, 2006 and appears today in the online edition of the journal, Science Express.

The monkey was dubbed Rungwecebus kipunji for its home range on 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 monkey. They first classified it in the genus Lophocebus, which includes three other species of monkeys 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 Tim Davenport of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Tanzania and Bill Stanley of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The monkey was sent to the Field Museum, which then sent muscle tissue samples to Olson for genetic
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Contact: Marmian Grimes
marmian.grimes@uaf.edu
907-474-7902
University of Alaska Fairbanks
11-May-2006