Fossil Monkeys Found

In a underwater cave in Dominican Republic, scuba divers found 3,000 year-old extinct monkey. They identified it as the Hispaniola Monkey. The primate died out in the 16th century. They inferred that christopher columbus was the blame for the extinction. This is because he discovered hispaniola, it led many europeans to settle there in 1492. All of the other species in that region went extinct after the settlement. The extinctions were probably caused by disease, habitat loss, and becoming the favorite dinner for settlers.

This article is related to the biology concept because the discovery of the fossils help to boost the growing field of underwater paleontology. Further research discovered it is the second speciemen of the species Antillothrix bernensis ever to be found.

We should care about this becuase its a recent discovery and it brings data to the simians. The discovery of the hispaniola monkey can lead to many other inferations of genetics of monkeys.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/scuba-divers-encounter-extinct-monkey-underwater.html