A new monkey has been discovered in the remote wilds of Amazonas, a state located in the northwestern corner of Brazil. The monkey represents a new subspecies of saddlebacked tamarin and has been given the scientific name Saguinus fuscicollis mura. The newly discovered monkey is gray and dark brown with a mottled saddle patch on its back. It is a small primate, weighing just 213 grams (3/4 lb) and measuring 240 mm (9 in) in height with a 320 mm (12.6 in) tail.

"This newly described monkey shows that even today there are still major wildlife discoveries to be made. 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." ~ Fabio Röhe of the Wildlife Conservation Society, lead author of a paper that describes the new species.

Sadly, the new subspecies may be soon under threat by habitat destruction. Numerous planned developments may impact Saguinus fuscicollis mura's habitat. These developments include the construction of a major highway, a proposed gas pipeline, and several hydroelectric dams.

Refs: New monkey discovered in Brazil (Eurekalert)

A new fossil primate has been reported by paleontologist K. Christopher Beard of the Carnigie Museum of Natural History. The new fossil, which is referred to by the nickname Ganlea, was discovered in Myanmar in 2005 and suggests that early anthropoids originated in Asia. This contradicts the theory that anthropoid origins are rooted in Germany, as suggested by the scientific team that found Ida.

Seagrass meadows around the globe are disappearing at an alarming rate. A team of scientists led by by Michelle Waycott of James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland, Australia analyzed data for seagrass habitats around the globe that were gathered between 1879 and 2006. They found that in the 215 sites they looked at, the area of known seagrass meadow habitat fell by 29 percent during that time period.

A striking cobalt-blue butterfly from the United Kingdom is making headlines as a conservation success story. The large blue butterfly (Maculinea arion) disappeared from Great Britain in 1979 and remained locally extinct until 1983 when scientists imported large blue butterflies from Sweden in an effort to revive the former British population.

The team of scientists that reintroduced the large blue butterfly to Britain has now published a paper detailing 40-years of meticulous observations that they complied on the species. The long-term study, led by Jeremy Thomas of Oxford University, represents a landmark in conservation science—little is known of how to successfully protect rare invertebrates and the findings for the large blue butterfly provide a superb example of invertebrate conservation.

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