Researchers have discovered a new sub-species of monkey in a remote part of the Amazon rain forest – the Mura’s Saddleback Tamarin!

The newly found monkey was first spotted by scientists in 2007 in the Brazilian state of Amazonas and is related to the saddleback tamarin monkeys, known for their distinctively marked backs.

The small monkey, which is mostly gray and brown and weighs 213 grams, has been named the Mura’s saddleback tamarin after the Mura Indian tribe of the Purus and Madeira river basins where the new sub-species was found. It is 24cm tall with a foot long tail.

“This newly described monkey shows that even today there are major wildlife discoveries to be made,” Fabio Rohe, the lead author of a study confirming the new discovery, said in a statement released by the WCS.

The study found that the monkey is threatened by development projects in the region, including a major highway through the forest that is being paved and which could fuel deforestation.

“This discovery should serve as a wake-up call that there is still so much to learn from the world’s wild places, yet humans continue to threaten these areas with destruction,” Rohe said.

If you want to help protect the threatened species of the Amazon Rainforest, join our one of our Bolivian Animal Project teams next year