New Titi Monkey Species Discovered In Amazon

A newly discovered species of titi monkey purrs like a cat and looks like a leprechaun.

Although it was first spotted in 1976 in Caqueta province of Columbia, frequent armed conflict in the region has prevented scientists from being able to confirm its existence until now.

The new species, named the Caqueta titi monkey or Callicebus caquetensis, is one of about 20 species of titi monkeys, which all live in the Amazon basin.

The Caqueta titi monkey is being recommended for classification as Critically Endangered. The population size has been estimated at less than 250 individuals, and its habitat has been fragmented by clearing for agricultural land.

Titi monkeys are one of the only species of primate that are monogamous, gibbons being one of the only other ones.  Scientists say that their monogamous behavior leads them causes them to be endearing.  One of their behaviors is “space saving,” where they encourage the other monkey to get closer to them.  All of the babies purr like cats.  When they feel very content they purr towards each other.

Original article here.


The Callicebus caquetensis is the top right:

Black Fawn

Brown Bear Salmon Feeding Frenzy

Below are several pictures from this photo gallery showing brown bears gathering at Katmai National Park in Alaska for an annual feeding frenzy during the salmon spawning season.  Click here to see the full gallery.

Rare Otter spotted for the first time in 100 years

 To say sightings of Lutra sumatrana, better known as the hairy-nosed otter, in Borneo are rare would be an understatement. The most recent spotting occurred after one of the otters was struck by a car and killed in Brunei. The last live sighting occurred more than 100 years ago.

New photos captured by a camera trap, however, have given conservationists hope for the species on the island.  The camera traps captured photos and video of several different otter species. Initially, researchers believed they had only captured images of smooth-coated otters and Asian small-clawed otters.

Close examination, however, revealed the unique traits of the hairy-nosed otter: a flatter, longer head, a white throat, and darker fur.

Original article here.

The traps also captured images of other otters including this Cynogale bennettii:

Reclusive primate caught on camera for first time

Wildlife researchers in Sri Lanka have photographed one of the world's most reclusive primates for the first time.

Sightings of the Horton Plains slender loris -- a small nocturnal primate with extremely thin arms and legs and huge round eyes -- are so rare that the creature has only been seen four times since 1937.

Conservationists feared the species had become extinct during a 63-year gap between sightings from 1939 to 2002.

The pictures show a 20-centimeter long male adult sitting on a forest branch forest. Conservationists have discovered it appears to have shorter and sturdier limbs than other loris; a possible adaptation for the cooler, high-altitude montane -- or cloud -- forest in which it lives.

Original article here.

10 New Deep-Sea Creatures

Some of the below ten new possible species are so strange, it is hard to know which direction they swim or where their mouths are.

The images were captured by researchers with a remotely operated vehicle between 2,300 feet and 12,000 feet deep along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the largest mountain range on Earth, which runs down the center of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and Africa on the east and the Americas on the west.

Three of the species, which look like colorful wavy worms, belong to a group of creatures called Enteropneust, which is believed to be the evolutionary link between backbone and invertebrate animals. Previously only a few specimens of the group, from the Pacific Ocean, were known to science.

Read the article to learn more about each creature.

Original article here.

Bug Eye Closeups

From this gallery:

What happens when you flip a starfish upside down?

Ravens Console Each Other After Fights

After ravens see a friend get a beat down, they approach the victim and appear to console it, according to new research.  This is the first evidence for birds consoling one another.

Ravens are one species of corvid, a famously smart group of birds, so they are a natural set of study subjects for researchers probing the uniqueness of mammalian behaviors like empathetic consolation. The consolation of fight victims has only been definitely shown in chimpanzees and bonobos. Recent studies show similar behaviors in dogs and wolves, but how consolation works in those animals hasn’t been tested.

The scientists noticed that birds with whom a victim spent a lot of time were most likely to approach it after a fight.  A victim’s “friends” seemed to notice when it was stressed by the fight.

Original article here.

World's Biggest Beaver Dam Visible From Space

Canadian beavers built the world's longest dam -- so big it can be seen from space.  At 2,790 feet, it is more than a half mile long.

It is twice the size of what was the world's largest, the Hoover dam, which borders Arizona and Nevada in the U.S. and spans 1,244 feet. The furry critters use trees, mud and stone to make a type of moat where they can use their swimming skills to evade any predators.

The dam, located on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in Northern Alberta, central Canada, was spotted by experts monitoring the size and spread of beaver dams in North America.

It is thought that several beaver families joined forces to create the massive dam, containing thousands of trees, and took many months to complete it.

Original article here.