Meet Likweli – the newly named monkey that hints at Congo’s hidden secrets

Scientists have formally named a new African monkey species, Likweli, discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. With a distinctive black face and orange-tinted mouth, this colobus monkey is only the fifth new African monkey species identified since nineteen seventy-five. Per The Conversation, the forests where Likweli lives support around twenty primate species—a biodiversity richness matched only by some Amazonian regions. But central Africa's decades of political instability have made these forests extremely difficult for scientists to study. The discovery underscores both the hidden richness of these ecosystems and the urgency of protection: Likweli is already considered endangered.

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