Subject: Primate taxonomy
ONCE AND FUTURE PRIMATE ORDER 
Closer look shows several species had not been identified

Washington, DC - In an unprecedented gathering of primate specialists, new
taxonomic classifications were confirmed that reveal many more species of
primates exist than previously estimated. The unique cross-disciplinary
meeting was convened by Conservation International (CI), the Primate
Specialist Group of the IUCN-World Conservation Union Conservation's Species
Survival Commission, and the Center for Environmental Research and
Conservation (CERC) of Columbia University, at the Disney Institute in
Orlando, Florida. 

"We have to know the units, the biological entities, that
we are trying to conserve," said Russell A. Mittermeier, CI president and
chairman of the Primate Specialist Group. "We cannot effectively protect
endangered species in the absence of a clear understanding of taxonomy." For
the first time, molecular genetic research was synthesized into existing
museum-based research and ongoing studies of primates in the wild. 

The newly updated classification impacts the number of species and subspecies of
primates in the Neotropics, Africa, Madagascar and Asia. Among the most
important findings from the meeting were the following: 

- The number of recognized primate species climbed from approximately 275 to 310, an
increase of more than 12 percent. The total number of primate taxa,
including subspecies, is believed to be about 608.  

- The number of recognized orangutan taxa increased from two to four, and all are considered
endangered. The Bornean and Sumatran populations were recognized as distinct
species, Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii, prior to the workshop. Genetic
information suggests that they may be as different as chimpanzees and
gorillas. Furthermore, the Bornean orangutan appears to be divided into
three subspecies. This is a major finding for this endangered ape, and makes
the task of conserving these species more challenging. 

- The number of families of Neotropical or New World monkeys increased from two to five.

- Six species of bushbabies or galagos, relatives of lemurs found on mainland
Africa, are now believed to represent some 40 distinct species based on
unique traits including vocalizations, facial patterns, hair structure, and
even the morphology of the male genitalia, as well as genetic differences.

- A new type of chimpanzee has been recognized. In addition to the pygmy
chimpanzee (Pan paniscus) and three subspecies of common chimpanzee (Pan
troglodytes troglodytes, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthi and Pan troglodytes
verus), primatologists now recognize Pan troglodytes vellerosus from
Nigeria. And, similar to the orangutans, all chimpanzee taxa are now
considered endangered.  

- The gorillas, previously considered a single species, were divided into two 
species and five subspecies. The eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) includes the 
mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) of the Virunga Volcanoes area of
Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic
Republic of Congo, the yet unnamed, but distinct, population of Uganda's
Bwindi (Impenetrable) Forest, and the eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla
beringei graueri). Western Africa is home to at least two additional taxa,
the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the Cross River
gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). The mountain, Bwindi and Cross River
gorilla populations all number only in the hundreds and are considered
critically endangered.  

New information about the anatomy, vocalizations,
behavior and chromosome numbers of primates, as well as sequencing of their
nuclear and mitchondrial DNA, influenced the analysis, which called into
question previous categorizations.  "As a primate geneticist and
conservation biologist, I marveled at the extraordinary effort made by
traditional taxonomists and field biologists in integrating the latest
molecular genetic evidence to define as much as possible every unique genus,
species and subspecies of primate," said Dr. Don J. Melnick, executive
director of CERC and professor of anthropology and biological sciences at
Columbia University. "This workshop was a watershed event, that will stand
as a model for how to accomplish similar analyses of other groups of
organisms." "The focus here may be on primates but this analysis points to
greater implications about biodiversity overall," said Dr. Anthony Rylands,
senior director for conservation biology at CI's Center for Applied
Biodiversity Science and deputy chairman of the Primate Specialist Group.
"The only way to conserve biodiversity is to understand what species exist
in order to be able to address their special needs. With this analysis, we
hope to open new doors to understanding of the living species around us."
One example of the increased number of primates at risk is the Cross River
gorilla. "Described early last century as a distinct species, later
downgraded to a subspecies, and then lumped together with the western
lowland gorilla for many decades, this unique gorilla population on the
Nigeria-Cameroon border was recently resurrected to the level of subspecies
as a result of new research," according to John F. Oates, primatologist with
Hunter College - CUNY. Oates added, "With numbers only in the low hundreds,
the Cross River gorilla jumps immediately to the top of the conservation
priority list, we hope we can appreciate its distinctiveness and enact
conservation action on its behalf in time." 

During the last century,
scientists described close to 200 new primate taxa, or about a third of all
known living species and subspecies. In the Neotropics alone, 19 new species
have been described since 1980 and more than 10 newly-discovered monkeys
await formal description.  Earlier this year, CI released a report on the
most endangered primate species stating that no primate species were lost
during the 20th century. However, this same report also warned that a
growing number of prosimians, monkeys and apes were on the brink of
extinction. This view was confirmed by participants at the Orlando workshop,
who concluded that, since IUCN released its most recent Red List of
Threatened Animals in 1996, the number of critically endangered and
endangered primates has grown from just over 90 to more than 130. Several
have not been seen in the wild in recent years.  

"We've arrived at a
critical time for the world's primates," said William Konstant, deputy chair
of the Primates Specialist Group. "While we know some species very well
indeed, the ecology and behavior of others remains a mystery, and some
appear to be disappearing before our very eyes. When numbers of individuals
drop to the low thousands and low hundreds, there's certainly no time to
waste. The results of this workshop, especially those that identify distinct
populations whose habitats and numbers may be shrinking, will help us set
more realistic priorities for conservation action." The researchers plan to
incorporate this analysis in preparing a Primate Conservation Strategy and
Action Plan for the 21st Century, which will be released at the
International Primatological Society in Adelaide, Australia in January,
2001.  

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