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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Newfound Monkey Species "Rarest in Africa," Expert Says


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A kipunji jumps from branch to branch in Tanzania.

Only recently discovered by scientists, the monkey was listed as "critically endangered" in August 2008. A census published in July counted only 1,117 of the primates one expert calls "the rarest in Africa."

Discovered in 2005, Rungwecebus kipunji was originially believed to be a type of mangabey and later identified as the first new monkey genus found since 1923.

Photograph by Tim Davenport/Wildlife Conservation Society