New Species of Titi Monkey Discovered: Could Cuteness Work in Its Favor?

Look at that face. How could you NOT go gaga over it? Those big, questioning eyes, those little innocent hands, that peppered furry head and auburn beard. Feel your heart melting yet?

 

Meet Callicebus caquetensis, a new species of titi monkey whose discovery was announced this week by Conservation International (CI). It was found several years ago in Caquetá, Columbia located close to the border with Ecuador and Peru, by researchers from the National University of Columbia.

 

Unlike most primates, these cat-sized furballs mate for life, typically bearing one baby a year. Whether they realize it or not, they apparently subscribe to a “raise 'em quick, get 'em out” philosophy: Based on information on closely-related species, Caquetá titi monkeys nudge their older child out the door when the next one comes along. But I'm guessing he'd have no trouble getting a job, given those looks...which brings me to another issue: What makes some animals so cute to us and others so dang ugly?

 

Natalie Angier recently expounded on the question in The New York Times. Apparently, there are a few researchers trying to figure out why we coo at a waddling line of penguins, for instance, and gag at, say, a star-nosed mole (which looks to me like it's got a flesh-colored sea anemone growing where a schnoz should be).

 

“As scientists see it,” writes Angier, “what we find freakish or unsettling in other species offers a fresh perspective on how we extract large amounts of visual information from a millisecond’s glance, and then spin, atomize and anthropomorphize that assessment into a revealing saga of ourselves.” Indeed, "'No one would find the star-nosed mole ugly if its star were iridescent blue,' says Denis Dutton, professor of the philosophy of art at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, in the article. "'But the resemblance of the pinkish nose to human flesh subverts our expectations and becomes a perverse violation of whatever values we have about what constitutes normal or healthy human skin.'”

 

In other words, when we see a human-like trait in a creature that is seemingly "off" in some way, we wince. Signs we take for illness or poor health—such as splotches and bumps and greenish-blue skin—also turn us off. (Hmm, perhaps that explains why I thoroughly detest frogs and toads. And here I was, unjustly accusing my brother for igniting my fear).

 

On the other hand, we humans are susceptible to drooling over animals with baby-like features, such as widely-spaced eyes and small noses. Hmm, kind of like the newest titi monkey's, perhaps? Speaking of, now that its identity is revealed, could there be some hope for this small primate?—its current population is estimated at 250 individuals (a healthy population should be in the thousands), making it a good candidate for listing as critically endangered, according to the CI press release. Degradation of their forests is to blame; the trees have been felled for agricultural land, and it's difficult for these primates to relocate.

 

Suffice it to say, the Caquetá titi discovery "is particularly important because it reminds us that we should celebrate the diversity of earth but also we must take action now to preserve it," says José Vicente Rodríguez, head of science at Conservation Internationl in Colombia, in the CI press release, adding that, "When world leaders meet later this year in Japan for the Convention on Biological Diversity, they must commit to the creation of many more protected areas if we want to ensure the survival of threatened creatures like this in the Amazon and around the world." Let's just not forget the ugly ones.