Portuguese Language Blog

This week, a new species of fish was discovered off the coast of Praia do Forte in Bahia, and is now being analyzed in Bahia to determine more details about the creature.

The fish was found floating dead in the water, and was caught and brought on board a research boat.  The strange-looking fish weighs 40 kilos and measures 1.8 meters in length. It has tiny, sharp teeth, and oddly, no scales. It is largely made up of body fat, with gelatin-like skin.

Researchers at the Federal University of Bahia will preserve the fish in formaldehyde and will also put the fish on display at the school’s Zoology Museum after it is analyzed.

Check out the BBC report and the Globo report on the new discovery!

Brazilian scientists have announced the discovery of a new subspecies of monkey, the Saguinus fuscicollis mura, discovered in the Amazon. Though it was originally spotted by scientists in 2007, the discovery was just published in the International Journal of Primatology last month.

The very small subspecies, which usually weighs just 350 grams and stands 23 centimeters tall, was found along the BR-319, a defunct highway that connects Porto Velho, in Rondônia, with Manaus, in Amazônia. The monkey’s habitat is located between the Madeira River and Purus River, right near the abandoned road.

The subspecies is named after the Mura tribe of indigenous Brazilians who live in the area. It eats mostly insects and fruit, and can live in dense forest as well as open areas.

However, the Brazilian government plans to start reconstructing the nearby highway as a part of a nationwide development plan. Also, there are several industrial plants being constructed in the area. Scientists fear that the newly discovered monkey could be in danger of disappearing quickly, if its habitat is endangered by development.

This week, construction workers discovered an ancient indigenous burial ground while building a school in Laranjal do Jari, in the northeastern state of Amapá. The site contains ceramic artifacts that could be up to 2,000 years old.

After the site was discovered, local archaeologists were called in to assess the findings. They found fifty funeral urns and around one hundred ceramic artifacts completely intact. Some of the pieces have paintings on them, indicating the presence of a large community as well as a tribe known to have lived in French Guyana and Suriname around 1,200 years ago.

Construction of the school has been put on hold until excavation ends, but archaeologists hope to create an educational center where students can learn about archaeology and help explore the site.

Click here to see photos of the excavation.