About 3.4 million years ago orangutans on the island of Sumatra was divided into two species living in the North and in the centre of the island.
An international group of scientists discovered on the island of Sumatra, a new species of orangutans Pongo tapanuliensis.
Previously, biologists thought that living here is one kind of orangutan — Pongo abelii. But now it turned out that in the center of the island lives a small population of monkeys, which are anatomically and genetically different from the Sumatran Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus klemantaski. A study published in Current Biology, briefly about it it is reported in the press release of the University of Zurich, sends N+1.
To date, a large humanoid obtiennent six species — the common chimpanzee and the Bonobo, Western and Eastern gorillas, and Sumarokovo and kalimantans orangutans. Presumably the ancestors of the orangutans separated from the African line of 19.3-15.7 million years ago and migrated to Asia, and much later to the Islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) live in the North of the island, but in the 30-ies of the last century, there were reports of orangutans have been seen in the North-West of the island, in the area of lake Toba. In 1997, the existence of isolated populations of monkeys living South of the habitat of P. Abelii.
In 2013, scientists got the skeleton of an orangutan from this population and they found anatomical differences from Sumatran orangutans and klemantaski. In the new work, biologists and anthropologists have studied the skull 33 males Pongo tapanuliensis that were stored in different research organizations. Scientists have discovered the structural features of the skull and teeth that distinguish “southern” Sumatran orangutans from the other species. Among other things, it turned out that the skull is smaller than the other orangutans of the same age. The researchers compared and appearance of the apes.
It turned out that P. tapanuliensis differ from Sumatran P. Abeliiкудрявой fur; males have a noticeable mustache, and the females have beards. The scientists also examined the mitochondrial genome sequence and Y-chromosome 37 individuals of P. tapanuliensis and to trace the evolution of orangutans, built the phylogenetic tree. Based on the results of the analysis, the authors suggested that the orangutans from mainland Asia came to the North-West of Sumatra, near lake Toba. P. tapanuliensis become direct descendants of populations that colonized Sumatra, Kalimantan and the island of Java. Then, around 3.4 million years ago, Sumatran orangutans, P. Abelii,living in the North island, and P. tapanuliensis divided. However, the exchange of genes between the two species continued for another 10-20 thousand years ago until their areas are not divided. Celimontana and sumatrana lines separated much later, around 700 thousand years ago.
Now, researchers estimate that the population of P. tapanuliensis has about 800 animals and lives in the area about thousand square kilometers. Therefore, immediately after the description of the species topoleski orangutans have become one of the most endangered species of great apes. If, due to hunting and habitat destruction a year will die about eight species, the new species is doomed to extinction.
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