Thursday 13 September 2012

is compassion exclusive to (some) human beings?

A recent article in the journal PlosOne (an amazing journal everybody in the world can access for free) describes the recent finding of a new type of monkey. It lives in the lowland rain forests of central Democratic Republic of Congo, between the middle Lomami and the upper Tshuapa Rivers:


Right at the heart of Africa........ where we all come from....

This new species has been called Cercopithecus lomamiensis, or "lesula", its common local name.

Looking at his picture, one cannot avoid seeing some kind of "compassion" in his face....or at least some kind of natural "goodness".

(Citation: Hart JA, Detwiler KM, Gilbert CC, Burrell AS, Fuller JL, et al. (2012) Lesula: A New Species of Cercopithecus Monkey Endemic to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Implications for Conservation of Congo’s Central Basin. PLoS ONE 7(9): e44271. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044271)