A new species of old world monkey recorded from Arunachal Pradesh has been named after a mountain pass at 13,700 ft above sea level. The newly identified species was named Sela macaque (Macaca selai).
Salient features of Sela macaque
- The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Sela macaque was geographically separated from the Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala) of Tawang district by Sela.
- Sela mountain pass acted as a barrier by restricting the migration of individuals of these two species for approximately two million years.
- Sela is situated between Dirang and Tawang towns in western Arunachal Pradesh.
- The Sela macaque has a tail longer than the Tibetan macaque, Assamese macaque, Arunachal macaque and the white-cheeked macaque but shorter than the bonnet macaque and toque macaque.
- Sela macaque belongs to the sinica species-group of Macaca, but it differs from all other members of this group through attributes such as brown collar hair and muzzle, and the absence of chin whiskers.
- The new species was identified and analysed by a team of experts from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the University of Calcutta.
- Their study has been published in the latest edition of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
(Source: The Hindu)
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