New monkey isn't so much "new" as "newly documented in a scientific journal"

When somebody says that a new species has been discovered, it's easy to get the impression that this is an animal nobody has ever seen before. But that's usually not exactly what scientists mean.

Take the lesula (or Cercopithecus lomamiensis), an African monkey whose "discovery" is making headlines this week. While it does seem to be true that this particular species hasn't been previously named and documented in the scientific literature, the scientists who wrote about the lesula were not the first people to encounter one. What's more, lesula do not represent a species totally removed from animals we already knew about. Here's Mongabay's Jeremy Hance:

"There are monkeys out there between the three rivers that no one recognizes. They are not in our field guides," Terese Hart wrote tantalizingly in a blog post in 2008. "We've sent photos to the most renown of African Primatologists. Result: a lot of raised eyebrows. And the more we find out the higher our eyebrows go."

One of these monkeys was the lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis). John Hart first came across the new species in June 2007 when he and a field team were shown a captive baby lesula, kept as a pet by the local school director's daughter in the remote village of Opala. The next step was locating the species in the wild.

...the lesula is apart of the Cercopithecini family, which are commonly referred to as guenons. It's most similar to the owl-faced monkey (Cercopithecus hamlyni), which is also found in the region. But the lesula sports a lighter coat and has unique calls. Genetic testing, furthermore, proves the species are distinct from each other and have likely been separated for a few million years, probably by impassable rivers.

I don't mean to downplay this find. It's pretty awesome for the Harts to be the first scientists to write about this species in a peer reviewed research paper. But I think there's a bit of a common mis-understanding between what scientists mean when they say they've discovered a new animal, and what the public often thinks they mean.

Hopefully, this will give you a better idea of what's going on.

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The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

http://ae4rv.com/ royaltrux

I can’t decide if I want to pet it or discuss philosophy.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Clandestine Monkey reacts to eventual discovery with wistful resignation.
Maverick

Looks like Jesus.
- Felton / Moderator
  
  I was thinking Nicholas Cage.
  - Ramone
    
    I was thinking the exact same thing. That monkey do a rom com about a cop who wins the lottery and I don’t think I could tell the difference.
    - Daemonworks
      
      The monkey’s probably a better actor.
      - Ramone
        
        Now if it could just ride a motorcycle, we’d have a hit comic book film on our hands.
  - roshelleanne
    
    Hahaha! At first I thought it was just another one of those Nicolas Cage memes.
- Maria Pranzo
  
  And a little like Virginia Woolf.
  - huskerdont
    
    At first I thought you were insulting VW, then I looked again and the tilt of the head and the thin nose do remind me of one of the famous pictures of her.
    - Maria Pranzo
      
      Yes – not an insult at all. I actually think she was a strikingly beautiful woman. But that monkey? That monkey is a Woolf monkey.
- Petzl
  
  Something about his placidness that resembles our 16th president.
  That, and the neck-beard.
- http://profiles.google.com/stephen.schenck Stephen Schenck
  
  Looks like the moon.
- irksome
  
  Calista Gingrich.
  
  And all this time, I thought Newt™ was f**king a Snowy Owl.
http://www.facebook.com/agraham999 Alan Graham

Anyone else???
- Maverick
  
  My point exactly.
Chuck

Is anybody else wondering if “Little Faced Mitt” can be Photoshopped into the middle of that?
Petzl

In restored Cercopithecus lomamiensis‘ name, we pray
limeychiney

Monkey Jesus radiates calm and compassion. I am a better person for seeing this face.
- mappo
  
  Monkey Jeebus died for your sinz.
http://www.geekman.ca GeekMan

He looks more bored to me.
“Sure. I guess I’m ‘new’ to you. Whatever…”
- echolocate chocolate
  
  Hipster Cercopithecus lomamiensis was cooler before he was “discovered”.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Gus-Mueller/1126894782 Gus Mueller

please, creationists, reassure me that i am in no way related to that creature! like the Lord Himself, i have my insecurities!
Lobster

I’m thinking Gene Wilder.
- ROSSINDETROIT
  
  Absolutely. That is the very first thing that I thought when I saw the picture. The second thing was that this expression defines bored resignation. The monkey, not Gene Wilder. http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4k5zngAjh1rohkxwo3_400.jpg
- http://www.facebook.com/teleny Alissa Mower Clough
  
  I also agree. Gene Wilder it is. In Willie Wonka.
http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

GUYS THEY JUST CAME OUT WITH THE NEW MONKEYS FOR FALL 2012
mappo

Apparently the Uncanny Valley effect also applies to monkeys.
- http://ae4rv.com/ royaltrux
  
  My point exactly. When cuteness and apparent intelligence converge.
Sujai Kumar

RT Ewen Callaway (@ewencallaway)
Care to start the ‘old world monkeys that look like Novak Djokovic’ tumblr? Nadal has his http://capybarasthatlooklikerafaelnadal.tumblr.com/
Brainspore

Dammit, the dealership told me that it was brand new! I’m not paying full price for a used monkey!
http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns

I swear I’ve seen that dude at burning man.
RJ

Coffee house monkey listens to “Mercy Street” on his iPod and contemplates the next chapter of his book.
timquinn

I thought monkeys were created in the monkey vacuum by fluctuations in the background monkeyness. In certain rare instances a new monkey and a new anti-monkey will be produced. In most cases the pair will annihilate each other, but occasionally the monkey pair will float apart and and a new kind of monkey is born. The anti-monkeys spend their days hiding in the deepest parts of the jungle, cause they’re just not that into us.
JeepMcMuddy

That photo > “Heeeeeeey Maaaan, quit harshin’ my mellow…..”
http://profile.yahoo.com/KQDVMG2M7NMHQB43DBYEUIFAXY aaron_and1

Tempted to Photoshop him onto the Levis ad at the right…
Wanjikũ Ngigi

Its face says, ” they finally they found me. I thought the bet was a sure thing.’
Bitgod

Makes me think of the Where’s Your Head At video…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rAOyh7YmEc
Ian Osborne

Nothing’s more Gene Wilder than that.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=536486708 Coal Miki-Restall

I always felt something was missing from this image. That’s better…
http://www.spellingmistakescostlives.com darrrrrrn

I’m just going to leave this here.
rtresco

“Lesula looks like people!…people!!” ~ C. Heston, gun-nut
Utenzil

Looks more like “Cercopithecus McKaylaMaroneynotimpressidus” to me.
geth

io9.com has already pointed this out, but this monkey is clearly related to Alan Tudyk:
http://io9.com/5942793/so-this-new-species-of-monkey-looks-exactly-like-alan-tudyk
StewieC

Isn’t that the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers? The “Discount Double-check” guy, Aaron Rodgers?
robotnik

Renowned. Renowned, renowned, renowned! (Sorry.)