New Primate Species Discovered In Brazil

Went to a lecture from M. van Roosmalen a few months back (autographed book acquired!) and he predicted the discovery of several more species. The underlying theory is that of island-development (pockets of rainforests cut off from each other by major river systems). Each pocket usually has it's own unique subspecies of just about every primate, so he pointed out the exact spots where subspecies had not yet been identified.

He called finding new species relatively easy :)
 
They have pulled out quite a few new species of monkey from the south American forests over the last ten years
 
Some new discoveries seem to attract the media's attention, whereas many others go almost unreported.
The new tamarin, though it's 'only' a subspecies of a known species (Saguinus fuscicollis) seems to have received far more attention than the recent discovery of a whole new genus of salamander (Urspelerpes) in North America. Probably salamanders aren't cute enough to appeal to the mass-media.
 
MikeG said:
Some new discoveries seem to attract the media's attention, whereas many others go almost unreported.
The new tamarin, though it's 'only' a subspecies of a known species (Saguinus fuscicollis) seems to have received far more attention than the recent discovery of a whole new genus of salamander (Urspelerpes) in North America. Probably salamanders aren't cute enough to appeal to the mass-media.
Click to expand...

Agreed!
512 new species of fishes were described last year - that's almost 10 per week.

Alan
 
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