Submitted on January 31, 2006
Accepted on April 26, 2006
A New Genus of African Monkey, Rungwecebus: Morphology, Ecology, and Molecular Phylogenetics
Tim R.B. Davenport 1*,
William T. Stanley 2,
Eric J. Sargis 3,
Daniela W. De Luca 1,
Noah E. Mpunga 1,
Sophy J. Machaga 1,
Link E. Olson 4
1 Wildlife Conservation Society, Southern Highlands Conservation Programme, Post Office Box 1475, Mbeya, Tanzania.
2 Department of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA.
3 Department of Anthropology, Yale University, Post Office Box 208277, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
4 University of Alaska Museum, 907 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Tim R.B. Davenport , E-mail: tdavenport{at}wcs.org
A new species of African monkey, Lophocebus kipunji, was described in 2005 from two sites in Tanzania. We have since obtained a specimen killed by a farmer on Mt. Rungwe, the type locality. Detailed molecular phylogenetic analyses of this specimen demonstrate that the genus Lophocebus is diphyletic. We provide a description of a new genus of African monkey, and of the only preserved specimen of this primate. Information on the animal's ecology and conservation is also presented.
