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A UGA anthropologist is part of an
effort that has discovered the first new monkey species found in Africa since
1984. Two research projects working independently in East Africa each discovered
the “highland mangabey,” one in the Ndundulu Forest of the Udzungwa
Mountains of Tanzania and the other in the Southern Highlands, 350 kilometers
to the southwest.
UGA primatologist Carolyn Ehardt is director of the project that produced
the discovery in the Udzungwas, where she has been conducting conservation
research over the last decade.
Ehardt’s co-discovery was recently published in the journal Science.
The co-discoverers include researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society
(WCS) and Conservation International (CI).
With a strange call the researchers describe as a “honk-bark” and
dramatic tufts of its brown hair sprouting from the sides and top of its head,
the highland mangabey is not only rare, it is unique.
Dwelling in the trees of two Tanzanian forests—at altitudes up to 2.5
kilometers (1.5 miles) above sea level—the highland mangabeys are a hearty
lot, enduring temperatures as low as -3° Celsius (27° Fahrenheit) and
seasonal rainfall that can total nearly 3 meters (9.5 feet).
From field observations and detailed photographic and audio recordings, the
scientists have concluded that the highland mangabey is a little under 1-meter
(3-feet) long—2-meters (6.5 feet) including tail—and has long,
brown fur (white on its chest and tail), and black skin.
The highland mangabey’s arboreal nature and black face with non-contrasting
eyelids are characteristic of one of two known mangabey genera, Lophocebus,
the mangabey genus most closely related to baboons. It is believed by the researchers
to number no more than a few hundred animals and will be classified as critically
endangered, due to its limited distribution and the severe threats to its forest
habitat.
The Southern Highlands team was coordinated and funded by WCS; the project
that produced the discovery in Ndundulu Forest received financial support from
WCS, CI, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, the Margot Marsh Biodiversity
Fund, Primate Conservation, Inc., the Primate Action Fund, The University of
Georgia Research Foundation and Office of the Dean of Franklin College, the
National Science Foundation, and the Primate Society of Great Britain.
Maximizing
Research Opportunities
Achieving the top ranks of American research universities,
so critical to the future economic development of Georgia
and to the education of its students, will require an unprecedented
level of commitment from the University and the state of Georgia.
In order to reach that level, UGA will need to focus its current
and new resources on areas of (1) greatest strength; (2) greatest
external funding opportunity; and (3) greatest opportunity
for national distinction. These areas of strength with great
external funding opportunity are
• environmental sciences
• biosciences generally and genomics in particular
• the biomedical area
• technologically aided agricultural research and service
programs, such as digital imaging and diagnostics.
Those with greatest opportunity for additional national recognition
include history, public and international affairs, areas of
English such as humanities computing; art; and music, including
the digital music program.
Critical to the success of the research program at UGA is
the construction of badly needed research facilities in these
areas of institutional strength. The Center for Applied Genetic
Technologies, which includes transgenic research facilities
for cattle, poultry, swine, fish and most major crop plants,
is now fully operational. A new facility for the Complex Carbohydrate
Research Center is on schedule to open by the end of 2003.
Additionally, facilities such as a major hospital for Veterinary
Medicine; an addition to the College of Pharmacy, including
space to support biomedical initiatives in cooperation with
the Medical College of Georgia; and substantial new facilities
to support the life sciences, including the College of Environment
and Design, the Institute for Integrated Genomics and the
Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, will expand
UGA’s role in these crucial areas.
The research under way at the University of Georgia, across
a wide array of disciplines, enhances lives, spurs economic
development and advances knowledge.
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UGA
anthropologist Carolyn Ehardt is part of an effort that has discovered the
first new monkey species found in Africa since 1984
