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Scientists believe they have stumbled upon a new species of monkey in the remote forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo. |
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While the small primate is unfamiliar to the zoological community and the rest of the outside world, it's well-known to local hunters. |
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科學家相信他們在剛果民主共和國的偏遠森林裡無意間發現了一種新品種的猴子。雖然動物學界與外界都對這種小型靈長類並不了解，當地的獵人卻非常熟悉。 |
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The find -- only the second discovery of a monkey species in 28 years -- was published last week in the open-access journal Plos One. |
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In the journal article, scientists describe the new species that they call Cercopithecus Lomamiensis, which is known locally as Lesula. |
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這項發現──這是二十八年來唯二發現的猴子新品種──在上週發表於公開取閱期刊《公共科學圖書館期刊》。在這篇期刊文章裡，科學家描述了他們稱為「洛馬米長尾猴」的這個新品種。這種猴子在當地稱為「勒蘇拉」。 |
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The monkey's home is located deep in the Lomami forest basin. |
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In the age of searchable digital satellite maps available to all on the Internet, a discovery like this seems a throwback to an earlier age of exploration. |
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這種猴子的發源地位於洛馬米森林盆地深處。在這個搜尋數位衛星地圖都公開於網路上供所有人查看的時代，這樣的一項發現彷彿返回了早期的探索時代。 |
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"We never expected to find a new species there," says John Hart, the lead scientist of the project, "but the Lomami basin is a very large block that has had very little exploration by biologists." |
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「我們從來沒想過會在那裡找到新物種，」這項研究計畫的首席科學家約翰．哈特說：「可是洛馬米盆地是一片非常大的地域，很少被生物學家探索。」 |
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Hart's team was making a routine stop in a remote village when they came upon a strange looking monkey tethered to a post. |
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It was the pet of a local school director's daughter. |
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She adopted the young monkey when its mother was killed by a hunter in the forest. |
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Team members took photos and showed them to Hart. |
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哈特的團隊在一座偏遠的村莊從事例行性的歇息，意外看見一隻樣貌奇特的猴子繫在樁上。那隻猴子是當地一所學校校長女兒的寵物。她在那隻小猴子的母親於森林裡被獵人殺害之後收養牠。團隊成員拍下照片，拿給哈特看。 |
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"Right away I saw that this was something different. |
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It looked a bit like a monkey from much further east, but the coloring was so different," said Hart. |
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「我立刻就發現這隻猴子不太一樣。牠看起來像是來自更東方的猴子，可是色彩非常不同，」哈特說。 |
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The monkey to the east is the semi-terrestrial owl-faced monkey. |
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Based on the photos, Hart believed that their shape and size could be similar, but the morphology or outward appearance was very distinct. |
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東方的猴子就是半陸棲的貓頭鷹臉猴。根據那些照片，哈特認為體型與大小可能相似，可是形態或外貌則非常不同。 |
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The Lesula had strikingly large, almost human-like eyes, a pink face and golden mane. |
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Far to the east, across several large river systems, the owl face is aptly named. |
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Its sunken eyes are set deep in a dark face with a white stripe running down from its brow to its mouth, like a line of chalk on a blackboard. |
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勒蘇拉擁有非常大的眼睛，幾乎和人類一樣，還有粉紅色的臉和金色的鬃毛。貓頭鷹臉猴來自東方遠處越過幾道大河系的地方，其名稱取得很恰當。這種猴子凹陷的眼睛嵌在深色的臉上，白色的條紋從眉毛延伸至嘴巴，像是黑板上的粉筆線條。 |
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