Unusual Discovery of New African Monkey Species

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Unusual Discovery of New African Monkey Species

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 13, 2012 @04:38PM from the new-primate-on-the-block dept.

rhettb writes "In a remote and largely unexplored rainforest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, researchers have made an astounding discovery: a new monkey species. The new primate, which is name the lesula and described in a paper in the journal PLoS ONE, was first noticed by scientist and explorer John Hart in 2007. The discovery of a new primate species is rare nowadays. In fact, the lesula is only the second newly discovered monkey in Africa in the past 28 years."

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new species by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 16:45 · Score: 0

and it has a neckbeard...
1. Re:new species by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 19:04 · Score: 0
  
  im assuming that you probably have positive karma, but just like being racist safe behind your anonymous status
2. Re:new species by pwizard2 · 2012-09-13 19:11 · Score: 1
  
  With that face it reminds me of a guy I used to work with.
  
  --
  "It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
3. Re:new species by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 19:23 · Score: 0
  
  I swear I only checked this story out to see if the racists were gonna call out the n-word...check : ) Fucking awesome! Predictable Slashdot trolls are predictable.
4. Re:new species by Joce640k · 2012-09-13 20:45 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Oh great, a new breed of monkey. Just what the world needed. I sure am glad that we solved all those other problems so we can care about this.
  What are you complaining about? It's one more thing for you to have sex with.
  
  --
  No sig today...
5. Re:new species by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 02:25 · Score: 0
  
  The only question is, was it the racists who did or the trolls? My money is actually on the latter.
6. Re:new species by Nyder · 2012-09-14 02:32 · Score: 2
  
  Oh great, a new breed of monkey. Just what the world needed. I sure am glad that we solved all those other problems so we can care about this.
  What are you complaining about? It's one more thing for you to have sex with.
  Oh, and you missed this on the page? http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0802-penis-snake-amazon.html
  
  --
  Be seeing you...
7. Re:new species by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 02:49 · Score: 0
  
  With that face it reminds me of a guy I used to work with.
  More surprisingly, it reminds me of a girl I used to go out with. Well, I say go out, but we mostly stayed in, if you know what I mean. And I'm sure that you do.
  
  She might not have been Miss World, but she banged like a shithouse door in a gale.
8. Re:new species by martas · 2012-09-14 03:03 · Score: 1
  
  You mean one more thing for me not to have sex with...
  
  --
  weinersmith
9. Re:new species by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 03:13 · Score: 0
  
  No, I'm not racist at all. My girlfriend is black. I just like to troll dumbfucks like you.
  Black men can't be trusted, though. Family get-togethers are unnerving.
10. Re:new species by rleap · 2012-09-14 03:22 · Score: 1
  
  Technically he could have had sex with it before the discovery, however he just didn't know about. Knowledge is power!
WOW !! ALREADY OUTNUMBER WINDOWS PHONE USERS !! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 16:49 · Score: 1, Funny

Yes, laugh all you want !!
1. Re:WOW !! ALREADY OUTNUMBER WINDOWS PHONE USERS !! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 18:14 · Score: 0, Funny
  
  The difference being, one has actually been seen in the wild, while the other has only been thought to exist by inference (massive lay-offs in Finland, for instance).
Alan Tudyk, is that you? by imperious_rex · 2012-09-13 16:55 · Score: 1

So that's where you've been hanging out since V, Serenity, and Firefly!!
Hidden or invisible!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 16:59 · Score: 0

It's a new item in a foreign but popular science catalogue, not a discovery to the human eye, knowledge or tastebuds, sadly.
1. Re:Hidden or invisible!? by lxs · 2012-09-13 18:44 · Score: 1
  
  You would prefer it if they ate the monkey?
I'd take it with a pinch of salt... by mutherhacker · 2012-09-13 17:22 · Score: 0

Granted how scientists just LOVE to give new names to things that are even slightly different (eg. Dinosaurs and how Jack Horner put them to shame).
1. Re:I'd take it with a pinch of salt... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 17:30 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Had you read TFA, you would've learned that they have done genetic testing and confirmed the species' distinctiveness from its closest relative.
2. Re:I'd take it with a pinch of salt... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 18:33 · Score: 0
  
  By sitting in the corner?
questions by onyxruby · 2012-09-13 17:23 · Score: 5, Insightful

Science will ask biological type questions. The rest of the world only cares about these questions though:
Is it cute?
Is it tasty?
Can it do tricks?
Beyond that the rest of the world just doesn't care. Kind of sad actually.
1. Re:questions by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 17:58 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  But does it blend?
2. Re:questions by istartedi · 2012-09-13 18:33 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Yes, and here on Slashdot they'll want to know if it's working on a new programming language. That beard has a lot of promise.
  
  --
  For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
3. Re:questions by 1u3hr · 2012-09-13 18:36 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Americans will ask "So, how do the Darwinists explain this? This proves that evolution is just a theory", and "Born in Africa? Where is its long-form birth certificate?"
4. Re:questions by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2012-09-13 18:40 · Score: 1
  
  Is it tasty?
  It doesn't need to be tasty. It just needs to come packaged as part of a "Happy Jungle Meal" with a toy for children. What you call a new species, the Congolese call, "the same old smoked Sunday roast dinner, again."
  For the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benjamin Franklin's quip is valid, "Hunger never saw bad bread." Places that call themselves Democratic Republics usually are neither. Watch out for a name change to the "Democratic Republic of America."
  Now . . . do these bushmeat critters have a natural resistance to AIDS . . . ?
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
5. Re:questions by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 18:58 · Score: 0
  
  Science will ask biological type questions. The rest of the world only cares about these questions though:
  Is it cute?
  Is it tasty?
  Can it do tricks?
  Beyond that the rest of the world just doesn't care. Kind of sad actually.
  More importantly can they text and drive at the same time with cell phone, if they can then they have a chance to survive.
6. Re:questions by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 19:02 · Score: 1
  
  Finally a new animal to name an operating system after!
7. Re:questions by skovnymfe · 2012-09-13 19:02 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I'd say the most important question is this: Is it better at writing Shakespeare than other monkeys?
8. Re:questions by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 19:12 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  I can't even decide if this is racist or not.
9. Re:questions by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 23:00 · Score: 1
  
  A 'new' discovery. It has a local name and has probably been used for bush meat forever but its new. So:
  1. Yes
  2. Yes
  3. Not for long.
10. Re:questions by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 23:01 · Score: 0
  
  Also: "Is it safe to microwave this?"
11. Re:questions by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 00:21 · Score: 0
  
  It has an enormous blue arse, bigger than the colourful arses of other monkeys. This, I tell you, is Stuff That Matters.
12. Re:questions by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 00:55 · Score: 0
  
  The Register gets right down to the meat: New monkey species with massive blue arse found in Africa
13. Re:questions by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 05:24 · Score: 0
  
  It is.
14. Re:questions by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-09-14 05:46 · Score: 1
  
  Well, I just wanted to make a remark that this is a wasted perfectly good opportunity to name a monkey species after Steve Ballmer, but I am forced to bow before your wit, it's bigger than mine (just like your beard, I suppose).
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
Not much of a discovery .... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 17:48 · Score: 0

Considering the natives were keeping a few as pets. Sometimes we are a bit limited by our own world-view.
At the same time, they are pretty cute. My wife already wants one as a pet instead of our dog.....
1. Re:Not much of a discovery .... by Iniamyen · 2012-09-14 04:10 · Score: 1
  
  To be fair though, if the Democratic Republic of Congo is the only place that knows about it, that's pretty much the same thing as an all new discovery. I'm just guessing, but they probably don't have a lot of resources freed up for categorization/conservation/study of new species.
Not True. Pat Robertcon by Barsteward · 2012-09-13 19:11 · Score: 0

has been known about for years...

http://richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2012/9/11/pat-robertson-blames-atheists-and-those-who-hate-god-for-wisconsin-temple-shooting

--
"The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
it IS cute by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 19:18 · Score: 0

Just look at their human-like eyes. People love that.
This species might go the way of the panda - avoid extinction through cuteness.
1. Re:it IS cute by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 19:32 · Score: 0
  
  My wife already wants to get one. It is SO cute.
Edible? by dutchwhizzman · 2012-09-13 20:00 · Score: 1

Living in the republic of Congo, most locals will probably want to know what the best way to prepare it's meat is.

--
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Most importantly by XrayJunkie · 2012-09-13 21:15 · Score: 1

Do they guard a huge amount of diamonds?
New species discovered by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 22:10 · Score: 0

And promptly shot and eaten.
Reports from the field indicate that "they don't taste all that bad."
Hooray for PLoS ONE! by damn_registrars · 2012-09-13 22:46 · Score: 3, Informative

Notice that you can download this entire article, in html or pdf at your choice, for free from anywhere. No paywall or restrictions. You can even post it to your website, redistribute it freely, etc. You can do pretty much whatever you want with this article, short of claiming it to be your own work (if you're not an author).

The Public Library of Science is helping to make more research results publicly accessible through this journal. No, I don't work for them, though I do have an article in PLoS ONE myself.

--
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
1. Re:Hooray for PLoS ONE! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 05:31 · Score: 0
  
  Freely available doesn't mean that there's no cost involved. Instead of paywall/restrictions between article and readers, for PLoS and other open access journals, the paywall/restrictions are between the authors and publication. The activities surrounding peer-review, editing, and publication of an article are absorbed somewhere: either from the suppliers/authors, or from the consumers/readers. The authors paid the publisher (PLoS ONE) to have their article produced and published.
  A downside of the author-pays (aka "open access") arrangement is that the research team has to either have the financial means to directly pay the publishing fees themselves, or convince a sponsor to cover their publication fees. Research that doesn't align with funding agencies' scientific or political leanings may not be sponsored.
  PLoS submissions fees for US authors are $1350.
2. Re:Hooray for PLoS ONE! by damn_registrars · 2012-09-14 06:51 · Score: 1
  
  Freely available doesn't mean that there's no cost involved
  That is a valid point, though I did not claim anything to the contrary. As consumers of scientific publications, though, slashdot readers notice when they can - or cannot - download a published paper for free.
  
  The authors paid the publisher (PLoS ONE) to have their article produced and published.
  The vast majority of academic journals have charges for the authors, regardless of whether or not the articles are available for free to view and download. You would be hard pressed to find a journal in the biological sciences in particular that doesn't charge for review and publication.
  
  PLoS submissions fees for US authors are $1350.
  Which is on par with most biomedical journals. The only ones that are significantly less than that are the "Hindawi" journals, which have such marginal impact that they aren't even indexed by pubmed.
  
  It is worth noting that both the PLoS and the BMC (BioMedCentral) journals also have "membership" setups where institutions - via their libraries - can become members and have the review / publication charges reduced drastically or waived entirely. For that matter, they also have a mechanism by which you can submit and ask to have the fee waived or reduced, if you find it is beyond what you can pay.
  
  --
  Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
human like face by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 22:58 · Score: 0

It has a very human like face
Not new, just new to science by Dixie_Flatline · 2012-09-13 23:11 · Score: 1

I read in a different article that the species was known to the native residents of the area. So western scientists have just named something, they didn't discover it. This article makes it sound like they're the first people that have ever seen such a thing.
1. Re:Not new, just new to science by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 04:09 · Score: 0
  
  I read in a different article that the species was known to the native residents of the area. So western scientists have just named something, they didn't discover it. This article makes it sound like they're the first people that have ever seen such a thing.
  Discovery: classified as unique in our taxonomy. If any local bushmen wanted credit they could have done the genetic testing and written up a paper for a scientific journal.
It's a century ferret by wringles · 2012-09-13 23:19 · Score: 1

Nuff said
Family Resemblance by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 23:46 · Score: 0

Those photos kept reminding me of someone, and it finally came to me. That monkey looks like Gene Wilder. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ismc2ZgXs10/ThUSVW8mRZI/AAAAAAAAADw/tBPtQZ6Rg_k/s1600/07_10.jpg
Blue balls by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 00:36 · Score: 0

Great. So they found a monkey with blue balls. How special...
Bigfoot! by slashmydots · 2012-09-14 01:10 · Score: 1

Aww, never mind, it's not bigfoot :-( But I'm sure he's next lol.
It's not new by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 01:26 · Score: 0

The natives of the area have known about it for hundreds of years. Just because some European has seen it for the first time does not make it "new" or "unknown". This would be the same as someone from Africa coming to the US and "discovering" the Bald Eagle and calling it an unknown species of white headed vulture.
Monkey looks like that restored Jesus painting by stillnotelf · 2012-09-14 01:31 · Score: 2

Does anyone else think that this new monkey looks a lot like that badly restored painting of Jesus that was in the news a few weeks ago? Monkey (from TFA), Jesus; you decide.
1. Re:Monkey looks like that restored Jesus painting by MarkGriz · 2012-09-14 01:57 · Score: 1
  
  Apparently the researchers "found Jesus"
  
  --
  Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
2. Re:Monkey looks like that restored Jesus painting by j00r0m4nc3r · 2012-09-14 02:30 · Score: 1
  
  I hadn't seen that. Thanks for the laugh!
Impossible by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 01:43 · Score: 0

It is impossible to discover a new primate species because we know every species on the earth already. That is the reason Sasquatch and the Yeti cannot possibly exist. NOT!!!!
And its cries echoes in the jungle.... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 03:23 · Score: 0

And its cries echoes in the jungle....
"developers - developers -developers- developers-developers- developers-developers"
Gorilla elliotnesis ? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 03:55 · Score: 0

did they name it Gorilla elliotnesis ?... ducks
Slashdot ignores the important issues by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 04:24 · Score: 0

For example, a new cute monkey is interesting, but a Penis Snake is downright frightening. From what did it evolve - did some poor unfortunate man have a very traumatizing mishap whilst walking through the jungle? Is its tongue white and liquidy? Can it be masturbated? Does it perform cunnilingus to impregnate females, or does it have its own sub-penis?
All of these issues and more must be discussed and must, eventually, be resolved.
Worth a thought by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-14 22:53 · Score: 0

Imagine a beowulf cluster of them.
Evolution by redcuffs · 2012-09-14 23:54 · Score: 1

Imagine a beowulf cluster of these.