The sneezing Burmese monkey was among the ten most important unusual discoveries in biology in 2011. This list is annually compiled by the International Institute for Species Research (USA, Arizona) in order to draw attention to scientific research.
A new species of thin-bodied snub-nosed monkeys was discovered in the mountains of Myanmar (northern Burma). This primate is famous for sneezing when it rains.
The search for the sneezing monkey began when zoologists discovered an unusual primate with protruding lips and an upturned nose. During the work of a group of scientists in the field of biology under the leadership of Ngi Lewin (from the Myanmar Nature Conservation Association), it was established that the habitat of this monkey is in the Kachin region (Mau River Valley, northern Burma) at an altitude of one thousand seven hundred - three thousand two hundred meters above sea level, and is only two hundred and seventy square kilometers.
Four populations of primates were found, in which scientists have counted approximately three hundred and thirty individuals of this species. This allowed them to be classified as endangered animals. The monkey's habitat is isolated from other primate species by mountain ranges and rivers, so they were discovered only recently.
As the expedition participant, primatologist Thomas Greisman, describes, the sneezing monkey has black fur, tufts of white wool grow in its ears and on its chin. The growth of an adult animal is sixty centimeters. The primate has a long tail (it is one hundred and forty percent of the body length).
The nose of the monkey is so upturned that when it rains, water flows into it, and the animal sneezes loudly. For this she was nicknamed "sneezing". It is easy to detect primates by the sounds of sneezing, so on rainy days they try to sit with their heads hidden between their knees. Locals call these animals in translation from their dialect - "a monkey with an upside-down face."
The new species was named Rhinopithecus strykeri, after John Stryker, president and founder of the Arku Foundation, which supports scientific research. Thomas Greisman also expressed his concern that snub-nosed monkeys may disappear due to the development of this area of northern Burma for the construction of roads and large dams.