Posts tagged "amazon"

Is there anything more precious than a monkey (other than baby sloths)? Not to us. We love monkeys at Paw Nation, and it turns out we now have a new primate to ooh and ahh over.

Scientists recently discovered a brand-new species of monkey in the Caquetá region of Colombia, near the borders of Ecuador and Peru, MSNBC reports. The primate's existence had been suspected for three decades, but violence in the area made it impossible to explore the forested region.

In 2008, researchers from the National University of Colombia made their way into the jungle and confirmed the existence of the new species, a type of titi monkey officially known as Callicebus caquetensis. Conservation International announced the discovery last week.

However, the news is not all good. Conservation International reports that less than 250 Caquetá titi monkeys are estimated to exist. Given the small population and their fragmented habitat, they'll likely be classified as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

But knowing this monkey exists is the first step toward protecting it.

"This discovery is extremely exciting because we had heard about this animal, but for a long time we could not confirm if it was different from other titis," lead scientist Thomas Defler said in a statement released by Conservation International. "We now know that this is a unique species, and it shows the rich diversity of life that is still to be discovered in the Amazon."

Kitty dolls come and go, but we keep buying them, don't we? From Beanie Babies to Hello Kitty, feline-friendly apparel is all the rage among the people who love 'em (so...nanas?), meaning there must be someone out there with a heart big enough to put down $12.99 on a plushie cat doll that looks like ...this one.

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