Discovery of a New Titi Monkey

摘要

Javier Garcia was an undergraduate when he made the find of a lifetime in 2008—a new primate now listed as Callicebus caquetensis, the red-bearded titi monkey. Biologists had heard that such a creature might live in this remote hot spot, Garcia's home province of Caqueta. But they were reluctant to venture into a place where rebels and paramilitaries battled over territory and U.S.-financed aircraft sprayed herbicide on coca plants (see main story, p. 450).Discovering a new species at age 22 launched Garcia as a conservationist. He is working on a master's degree in primatology at the National University of Colombia in Bogota. Meanwhile, he has been tramping across the ranch-flattened landscape of Caqueta to complete a census of the cat-sized monkey. But now, he says, "it's very painful" to realize that the animal is in trouble as its habitat shrinks.Biologist Martin Moynihan was the first to suspect the presence of an unidentified species in 1976, when he saw a titi monkey lacking the typical white face stripe. Moynihan hypothesized that it was a new species or subspecies associated with swampy, humid terrain. Thomas Defler, Colombia's leading primatologist and Garcia's academic adviser, wanted to follow up but says that "it was impossible" to venture into Caqueta. Then Garcia arrived at the university. "Javier was willing to go and enjoyed the reputation of his father," a well-regarded local veterinarian, Defler says.