With the capture of the first example of the white-faced monkey (Callithrix saterei) in Amazônia in 1984, the number of new species of primates discovered in the Brazilian forests has risen over the last five years to six. This is unusual because together with birds, primates are far and away the best-known group studied within Brazilian fauna.
More surprising still is that one of these discoveries, the black-faced lion monkey (Leontopithecus caissara) took place on the coast of the state of Paraná, in the middle of the Atlantic Forest and less than 200 kilometres from the cities of São Paulo and Curitiba (capital of Paraná), in one of Brazil’s most studied regions. However, the great pleasure of the discovery could not be celebrated to the extent that the event warranted, because although only recently catalogued, the monkey was already threatened with extinction. Only 400 examples of this monkey were counted in the region, a number much lower than the minimum required to render the species sustainable.
As a result of these new discoveries, Brasil is the home of 75 of the 250 species of primate on the planet – yet another sign of the country’s unparalleled biological diversity.