Bizarre new monkey species that speaks in burps and looks like a duck discovered
A brand new monkey with massive orange lips, a pout, and a ‘strong odour’ has been discovered living in the remote jungles of DR Congo after a nearly 20 year search for the elusive creature
The monkey has officially been named a brand new species(Image: Junior Amboko, Florida Atlantic / SWNS)
A unique-looking monkey species has been discovered roaming the remote jungles of Central Africa, with scientists intrigued by its orange lips, stench and strange burping.
The odd looking primate was finally found tucked away in a remote part of DR Congo, after an unconfirmed photo back in 2008 prompted desperate efforts to confirm its existence.
And now the creature, which biologists have named the Likweli monkey, has been officially confirmed as a brand new species following an eight year investigation which saw scientists painstakingly track the elusive animal. Much of the discussion about the newly found monkey relates to its impressive-looking lips.
Scientists tracked the monkey for eight years(Image: Junior Amboko, Florida Atlantic / SWNS)
The Likweli boasts a patch of “long black hairs on the forehead and sides of the face” and impressive orange, almost duck-like pout, which scientists may be used to create a striking visual display when it roars.
The shy primate’s communication clearly fascinated biologists tracking the creature, who spent days recording its range of burps, snorts and roars that is uses to chat to other Likwelis elsewhere in the thick jungle.
According to the report, every larger cry was accompanied by a shorter burp-like sound, which scientists describe as a “snort vocalisation.”
The monkey has a distinctive face and smell (Image: Junior Amboko, CC-BY 4.0 / SWNS)
The animal’s backside was also of interest to biologists, who make note of the species’ striking white ‘perianal patch’, with one hunter apparently describing the creature as emitting a “strong odour”.
Despite not being known to biologists, the Likweli has long been on the radar of the local Mituku people, who refer to the species as kasaba nkoni, which means “the branch shaker.”
The creature has been described as “quiet and cryptic with a localized distribution”, by experts, who have labelled the rare, new monkey as an endangered creature.
Scientists tracked the species for years through the dense, DR Congo jungle(Image: Getty Images)
Junior Amboko, a PhD student who played a key role in the search, told BBC News that it had been an “amazing feeling” to finally confirm they were tracking a brand new species.
He explained: “As part of our search, we interviewed people in 52 villages close to where the animals live. And only people in eight villages [had ever seen] them,”
“You often hear them, but don’t see them,” he added.
The Likweli becomes just the fifth new primate discovered on the African continent in nearly a century, and is being heralded as a massive breakthrough in tracking the dense Congolese jungle.
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