Did you hear there's a new kind of monkey in town? Actually, it's in the wild; the South American wild.

TV talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres put forth her best bidding effort last week to earn the right to name the newly discovered titi monkey species. Thanks to an anonymous winner, his or her $650,000 bid in an online charity auction will benefit the exotic South American national park where the species was found.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) discovered the currently unnamed, brown-and-orange monkey last year in Bolivia's Madidi National Park, the most biologically rich protected area on earth situated in South America's poorest nation.

Madidi is home to more plant and animal species than any other South American preserve.

The WCS, in partnership with Bolivian protected area authorities, auctioned the one-of-a-kind international opportunity for the right to name an entire species of neotropical primate -- in an effort to help protect Bolivia's Madidi, a treasured wilderness.

DeGeneres not only helped raise the final bid in the auction which closed on Thursday, March 3rd 2005, she raised thousands more for the park by auctioning some of her clothing and shoes through the New York-based auction venue, Charity Folks.

Charity Folks did not charge a commission on the monkey name auction.

Steven Sanderson, President of the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement:

The Internet just became a safety net for this monkey and Madidi National Park.

Threats facing the park include "illegal settlements and unsustainable resource extraction," according to the society.

The anonymous winner has not yet announced the species' name.

Their only rule: The new monkey name will have to conform with the rules of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the organization that ensures every animal has a unique and universally accepted scientific name.

The monkey's features include: A brown body, a golden crown, orange cheeks and a white-tipped tail.

The term "titi monkey" describes about 30 species of monkeys found in South America.

Madidi is where the one-foot-tall (30-centimeter-tall), two-pound (one-kilogram) species was discovered.

Over the past few centuries, newly discovered species have been named after royalty, patrons of science, and even the explorers themselves, such as the Queen Victoria crowned pigeon, Rothschild's giraffe and Roosevelt's elk.

Perhaps the winner, before choosing a name, should seek advice from Chris Beard and K. Christopher Beard, co-authors of The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey: Unearthing the Origins of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans (released Dec. '04).

Or perhaps the winner could create a naming contest on the Emmy award-winning "Ellen DeGeneres Show" as a way of raising even more money for the park and this critically endangered primate.

Another Wild Animal Lover, Sharon Stone Monkeyin' Around with Ellen

When he or she does choose a name, perhaps we will learn more about this monkey on Ellen's show and on Deirdre Kennedy's weekly radio program, Animals Aloud.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "a new breed of monkeyin' around" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King , Rugged Elegant Living publisher

Photographs of monkeys courtesy of the Wildlife Conservation Society