NEWS : A new species of old world monkey recorded from Arunachal Pradesh has been named after a strategic mountain pass as Sela macaque

SELA MACAQUE (MACACA SELAI)

• Identified and analysed by a team of experts from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the University of Calcutta
• The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Sela macaque was geographically separated from the Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala) of Tawang district by Sela.
• This mountain pass acted as a barrier by restricting the migration of individuals of these two species for approximately two million years
• Has a tail longer than the Tibetan macaque, Assamese macaque, Arunachal macaque and the white-cheeked macaque but shorter than the bonnet macaque and toque macaque
• Sela macaque belongs to the sinica species-group of Macaca, but it differs from all other members of this group through attributes such as brown collar hair and muzzle, and the absence of chin whiskers
• Sela is a mountain pass situated between Dirang and Tawang towns in western Arunachal Pradesh