The Newest, Cutest Baby Animals from the World's Zoos & Aquariums
On Friday, May 30th, Zoo Miami welcomed the birth of a male White-faced Saki monkey. This is the first birth of this species of Tropical American monkey for Zoo Miami. Found in the rainforest trees of Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela, these fruit eating monkeys rarely come to the ground and are considered vulnerable due to habitat destruction and hunting for food and the pet trade. Unfortunately, the first-time mother rejected the offspring so it is now being hand raised by zoo staff.
What an unusual monkey. And what a VERY unusual nose—the side-aimied nostrils and huge flat space between. Do they bury their faces in squishy fruit, and that makes the noses the way they are? Or???? Is there a known reason for the nose shape? Love the pix, and sure hope the little one does well.
Poor little guy looks so perplexed! But his human keeper seems to be doing an awesome job. Hope he grows up happy and healthy.
What a sweet little baby monkey — hopefully when he is older he can re-join his mother.
What a sweet little baby! Good luck, tiny one.
Is that how his nose is supposed to be? Freaky!
Yep. New world monkeys have nostrils that face the sides; old-world primates, i.e., Lemurs, monkeys, and greater and lesser apes have nostrils facing outward, sometimes downward–like us.
It’s not an unusual nose in the least. ALL new world monkeys have nostrils facing outward. So spider monkeys, marmosets, howlers, capuchins, tamarins–the whole lot have this arrangement. It’s the easiest way to know that you are looking at a new world monkey, vice old world.
The two had a common ancestor about 30 million years ago.
It’s one of sciences great mysterious as to how the new world monkeys got to the Americas because even 30 million years ago, the Atlantic provided what seemed to be an formidable obstacle for migration.
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