New species of orangutan found in Sumatra

A new species of orangutan has been discovered on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. This was reported by an international team of scientists who studied an isolated population of monkeys living south of the range of the Sumatran orangutans, in the area of ​​Batang Toru.

After studying the genomes of 37 individuals from different habitats of orangutans, scientists came to the conclusion that the ancestors of the representatives of the new species - it was called Tapanuli (Pongo tapanuliensis) - separated from the ancestors of the two known species about 3.38 million years ago. The ancestors of the currently recognized Sumatran and Kalimantan orangutans split, according to researchers, much later - about 674 thousand years ago.

Scientists also compared the skull of an adult male from the Batang Toru group, which was found in 2013, with the skulls of 33 orangutans from other areas and found significant differences - in particular, the skulls of the Tapanuli orangutans were smaller than the skulls of other species.

In addition, Tapanuli orangutans have curly coats and more pronounced facial hair.

Scientists say Tapanuli orangutans are critically endangered, with the only known population of less than 800 individuals.

• At the moment, scientists distinguish six species of great apes, which, together with humans, make up the hominin family - these are the Kalimantan and Sumatran orangutans, western and eastern gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. With the separation of the population near Batang Toru into a separate species, there will be seven such species.
• Orangutans, found only on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia, are endangered due to habitat destruction and poaching.