A new species of primate – White-cheeked Macaque–has been spotted in Arunachal Pradesh by a group of wildlife photographers and biologists from North East India.
The White-cheeked Macaque (Macaca leucogenys) was first spotted at the Anjaw district, nestled in the Eastern corner of Arunachal Pradesh by a team of biologists and wildlife photographers comprising Dr Ranjan Kumar Das, Udayan Borthakur and Dr Dilip Chetry.
The team, accompanied by professional bird guide, Binanda Hatibarua, was on a birdwatching trip to the area in eastern most district of India in March 2016, when they made the sighting.
On the basis of photographs of a group of macaque taken during the trip, it has been confirmed to be the White-cheeked Macaque, a press release issued by wildlife conservation organisation Aaranyak said.
The White-cheeked Macaque itself is a species new to science, first reported by Dr Li Cheng and his group from the Modog in South-eastern Tibet in China in 2015.
It exhibits a suit of pelage characteristics including relatively uniform dorsal hair pattern, hairy ventral pelage, relative hairless short tail, prominent pale to white side- and chin-whiskers creating a white cheek and round facial appearance, dark facial skin on the muzzle, long and thick hair on its neck, and round rather than arrow-shaped male genitalia.
The find represents the first time this new species has been spotted within India.