New monkey species with orange lips found ‘hiding’ in DRC forest

A monkey that has striking pinkish-orange lips and a black face – and lives in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo – has been confirmed as a new species to science.

The black-furred primate was spotted and photographed hidden away in the high tree canopy of dense tropical forests in Lomami National Park, in the central east of the country.

Conservationists working there first reported seeing this unusual-looking animal back in 2008. But they captured just one blurry photograph.

After another sighting 10 years later, an international team set out to find and study the monkey and revealed that it was a previously unknown species.

This is only the fifth African monkey species to be discovered in the last 75 years.

Junior Amboko, a PhD student at Florida Atlantic University, played a leading role in the search, which involved audio recordings, photography and detailed genetic studies.

The findings were published in the journal PLoS One, external.

Amboko told BBC News it was an “amazing feeling” to look into the face of an animal that so few people knew existed.