Malaysia's ‘mystery hybrid monkey' could be result of habitat loss
The emergence of a “mystery monkey”, believed to be a rare hybrid of two distantly related primates, highlights the importance of protecting habit connectivity, according to a researcher who studied the animal.
The female monkey first attracted attention in 2017, when photographs taken of it along the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Malaysia, were uploaded to social media wildlife photography groups.
Researchers studied various photographs taken of the monkey, looking at its colouring and proportions, and concluded it is likely the offspring of a male proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) and a female silver langur (Trachypithecus cristatus).
They observed that the monkey’s face was closer to that of a proboscis monkey than silver langur, though its nose, while pronounced, was not as long, and its skin was grey. Its hair, long and dense, resembled that of a silver langur, though it did not have a side mane as is common for the species, and its colour showed patterns typical for a proboscis monkey.
Observers told researchers they had seen mixed-species groups in the area, and interspecific mating had been photographed.
Researchers say the case may be related to habitat loss and fragmentation as oil palm plantations have expanded, confining the two putative parent species to narrow riverine forest patches along the Kinabatangan. Read More...
