The new species is named after the mountain where most of the animals live. They have a mask-like face and gray coat. There are only 200 to 250 specimens in the wild, making the species “threatened with extinction” already. This is due to hunting and the dwindling habitat of the animals.
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There are more than twenty species of langurs that live in the trees of Southeast Asia. The first evidence of the new species was not found in the wild, but in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London. The museum has traces collected over a century ago in Burma (now Myanmar), when it was still a British colony. A genetic analysis revealed the spores to be of an unknown species.
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The faeces of the Popa Langoer that the researchers found in Myanmar matched the excrement that the museum had in its possession. It showed that the unknown primate still lived in the wild. They were finally captured on film in 2018, which helped researchers know what the animal looked like.
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At least 20 new primates, including the great apes, have been discovered since the beginning of this century. Often animals that looked the same were found by genetic analysis to belong to a different species. Worldwide, about 20 primate species are threatened with extinction.
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