New monkey species with orange lips found 'hiding' in DRC forest

New monkey species with orange lips found 'hiding' in DRC forestImage source, Junior AmbokoImage caption, The monkey, known locally as 'Likweli', has distinctive pinkish-orange lipsByVictoria GillScience correspondent Published1 hour agoA monkey that has striking pinkish-orange lips and a black face - and lives in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo - has been confirmed as a new species to science.The black-furred primate was spotted and photographed hidden away in the high tree canopy of dense tropical forests in Lomami National Park, in the central east of the country.Conservationists working there first reported seeing this unusual-looking animal back in 2008. But they captured just one blurry photograph.After another sighting 10 years later, an international team set out to find and study the monkey and revealed that it was a previously unknown species.This is only the fifth African monkey species to be discovered in the last 75 years. Junior Amboko, a PhD student at Florida Atlantic University, played a leading role in the search, which involved audio recordings, photography and detailed genetic studies.The findings were published in the journal PLoS One, external.Amboko told BBC News it was an "amazing feeling" to look into the face of an animal that so few people knew existed.Secretive speciesImage source, Junior AmbokoImage caption, Junior Amboko (left) and Mardoché B. Koko recorded the distinctive, resonant roar of the newly discovered Colobus congoensis monkey in the Lomami National Park, DRC"Discovering" a species, in this context, means officially recording and confirming it has evolved to be genetically distinct. Some local people already knew of the monkey's existence and refer to it by a common name - Likweli.But Amboko said the monkeys were "kind of shy" - and tended to hide high in the trees."As part of our search, we interviewed people in 52 villages close to where the animals...