Prof. Anindya Sinha
Anindya Sinha, Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore and Senior Scientist of the Nature Conservation Foundation in Mysore.

Abstract

We reported a new species of primate, the Arunachal macaque Macaca munzala, from western Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India, in 2005. Based on its appearance and distribution, it was hypothesised to be closely related to the Assamese macaque M. assamensis and the Tibetan macaque M. thibetana. We subsequently obtained an entire adult male specimen and tissue remains from two other M. munzala individuals. Molecular analyses establish the distinct identity of the species, indicate a time of origin c. 0.48 mya for it, and, rather surprisingly, reveal its phylogenetic affinities with both the geographically distinct bonnet macaque M. radiata of southern India and with the geographically closer Assamese macaque. Morphometric analyses, on the other hand, reiterate its similarity only with the Assamese and Tibetan macaques, presumably resulting from convergent evolution under similar ecological conditions. Finally, our recent discoveries of morphologically distinct but genetically identical macaques from western and central Arunachal Pradesh reveal the existence of a fascinating species complex that has possibly evolved, in turn, by divergent evolutionary processes, raising a fundamental question of whether we will ever discover the essence of what it is to be a species.

About the author

Anindya Sinha, Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore and Senior Scientist of the Nature Conservation Foundation in Mysore, has wide-ranging research interests in the areas of behavioural ecology and cognitive psychology of primates and other species, population genetics, evolutionary biology, conservation biology and the philosophy of biology. He has a master’s degree in botany, a doctorate in molecular biology, and has earlier worked on the biochemical genetics of yeast, the social biology of wasps, and the classical genetics of human disease. He is also interested in biology education and popularisation of science, and has lectured extensively in a variety of educational and research institutions, both in India and abroad.