An international group of primatologists has discovered a new primate, Galagoides kumbirensis (Angolan dwarf galago), with features not been seen by science before.
The Angolan dwarf galago (Galagoides kumbirensis) prefers moist, tall forest, primary, and secondary and semiarid baobab savannah-woodland. Image credit: Elena Bersacola.
Galagos, also known as bushbabies, are small, woolly, long-tailed primates that are widespread over sub-Saharan Africa, and make up the family Galagidae.
Over the last half century, their number of species recognized has slowly climbed from 6 to 19 species (including the new one).
The newly-discovered species, the Angolan dwarf galago, belongs to the genus Galagoides (dwarf galagos, or dwarf bushbabies).
“This new species is a very exciting discovery,” said Dr. Russell Mittermeier of Conservation International.
“It is only the fifth new primate described from the African mainland since 2000 and only the second species of galago. What is more, it is from Angola, where there has been very little primate research to date.”
The Angolan dwarf galago is a small gray-brown galago with a darker, long-haired tail.
It is the largest known dwarf galago: the typical head-and-body length for this species is from 6.7 to 7.9 inches (17-20 cm), and the tail varies from 6.7 to 9.5 inches (17-24 cm) long.
This new species is described in a paper published online recently in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
“Muzzle slightly up-turned, pink below and dark above, merging into dark eye-rings with a conspicuous white nose stripe between the eyes,” the authors wrote in the paper.
“The remainder of the face gray, suffused with brown, and set off from white cheeks, chin, and neck.”
“Inner ears white towards the base and yellowish towards margins. Ears gray above with two light spots where the ears join the crown. Crown, dorsum forelimbs, thighs, and flanks gray with a brown wash.”
“Ventrum, surface of forelimbs and hindlimbs creamy yellow. Yellow strongest where the light ventrum merges into the darker dorsum.”
“Tail darker towards the tip and slightly longer than the body. Tail held curled when at rest.”
The morphology and calls of the Angolan dwarf galago are so unique that there was no need to resort to genetic techniques to verify it further.
“When we first encountered the new species in Kumbira Forest in north-western Angola, we heard a distinctive ‘crescendo’ call similar to that of a tiny galago, but upon seeing one, we were struck by its remarkably large size,” said lead author Magdalena Svensson, a researcher with the Nocturnal Primate Research Group at Oxford Brookes University.
“Until now, call types have been the most reliable way to distinguish galago species, and to find one that did not match what we expected was very exciting.”
“The uncovering of this species is characteristic of the return of real biology,” said co-author Prof. Judith Masters, from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa.
“Although DNA has yielded new and sometimes highly contestable specimens, in the case of this new galago, the differences are obvious for all to see.”
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Magdalena S. Svensson et al. A giant among dwarfs: a new species of galago (Primates: Galagidae) from Angola. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, published online February 22, 2017; doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23175
