New Dwarf Primate Found, Is Giant Among Its Kin
Native to Angola, the six-inch-long mammal may be already endangered, scientists say.
Sharp-eared researchers have detected the sounds of a previously undescribed species of dwarf bush baby deep in the African jungle.
The team noticed one of the calls didn't sound anything like the 18 known species of bush baby—a tiny, bug-eyed mammal also called a galago—living in western Angola's Kumbira Forest.
When the scientists finally spotted the primate, they discovered that it was 6.2 inches long, bigger than some other known dwarf galagos—in their words, a "giant among dwarfs." (Also see "New Species of Primate Is Named After 'Star Wars.'")
"Until now, call types have been the most reliable way to distinguish galago species, and to find one that did not match what we expected was very exciting," study leader Magdalena
