British researchers say they've confirmed a species of lemur living in Madagascar forests and supposed to be new to science.Primate expert Russ Mittermeier has confirmed the endurance of the creature, dubbed the fork-marked lemur for a black stripe on its head, when he and his colleagues captured and took blood samples from the small primate before returning it to its forest home.
Mittermeier, the president of Conservation International, is convinced it is a new species, although genetic testing of the samples will be needed to verify it.
Forked-marked lemurs fit in to a small genus called Phaner. If confirmed as a new species, they would be only the fifth member of that group.
"This is yet another significant discovery from the island of Madagascar, the world's highest priority biodiversity hot spot and one of the most amazing places in our planet," Mittermeier said.
"It is particularly remarkable that we prolong to find new species of lemurs and many other plants and animals in this heavily impacted country, which has already lost 90 percent or more of its original vegetation."
Due to its very restricted range, Mittermeier said, it is possible the fork-marked lemur will turn out to be an endangered or significantly endangered species.
