Quick Take
- The viral claim about how long this monkey vanished turns out to be wrong, and the real timeline is stranger than the myth. Check the real timeline →
- Among all saki monkey species, this one holds a distinction no other shares, and that distinction has nothing to do with how it looks. See its unique distinction →
- Its rediscovery isn't the comeback-from-extinction story most people assume it is. Understand the rediscovery →
- The remoteness that hid this monkey for decades ended up being the key to unlocking what scientists never knew about it. Explore what isolation revealed →
Rare animals exist all throughout the world, and due to low populations or limited habitats, some animals are extremely elusive. Because they are difficult to locate, these animals can sometimes be assumed extinct, which makes their rediscovery so special. This was the case with Vanzolini’s saki, a rare species of saki monkey rarely found in South America. This Instagram post by @livingearthtv documents a recent and surprising sighting.
There are 16 species of saki monkey, such as the white-nosed saki pictured here. Vanzolini’s sakis, however, are so elusive that little photographic evidence of them exists.
©Cavan-Images/Shutterstock.com
About Vanzolini’s Saki
Vanzolini’s saki, better known as Vanzolini’s bald-faced saki, is a rare species of saki monkey. Found in South America, they are one of the least-studied monkeys in the Amazon. Named after Brazilian zoologist Paulo Vanzolini, these monkeys have rarely been seen or photographed. In fact, this is the only species of saki monkey without photographic evidence of a living individual. The post above claims that the species was missing for roughly 80 years, but there is a bit of nuance. Scientists were able to collect specimens in 1956, but they had been unrecorded in their primary location for 80 years. The first rediscovery since then was in 2017, meaning there was a roughly 60-year absence. Researchers André V. Nunes and José E. Serrano Villavicencio obtained a specimen that had been hunted by a local resident in Riozinho da Liberdade Extractive Reserve in Acre, Brazil.
The amazing rediscovery helped to confirm the existence of this species. While Vanzolini’s saki was never officially classified as extinct, it essentially became a missing species that had very little recorded information on it. Due to the remoteness of their habitat, it is extremely difficult to gather evidence. Also, in 2017, the Houseboat Amazon expedition was able to encounter the monkey another 21 times. After finding new specimens, there has been significant development in the study of the species. The rediscovery of Vanzolini’s saki has helped solve decades-long mysteries about these monkeys, giving scientists more information on behavior, social groups, population size, habitats, and lifespan.
