Scientists have examined fossilised remains¹ of a tiny, extinct monkey that were retrieved³ from an underwater cave in the Dominican Republic.

多米尼加共和国的科学家检测了从一处水下洞穴取回的一只微小的、绝迹猴子化石。

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Scientists believe the creature went extinct relatively recently, but may have been very ancient

The researchers believe the fossil to be around 3,000 years old, but say the species itself could be very ancient.

This reveals clues about the origin of primates⁵ in the region.

It also suggests that many ecologically（生态学地） valuable treasures could be discovered by the unusual field of "underwater palaeontology（古生物学） ".

Dr Alfred Rosenberger from Brooklyn College in New York, US, led the examination of the creature's bones, the results of which were published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings⁶ B.

He explained that the bones, which included a skull⁷ that was almost complete, were found by a team of scuba⁸ divers⁹（戴水肺的潜水员） who were exploring an underwater cave in the area.

"It's miraculous¹⁰（不可思议的，奇迹的） that they even saw it," he told BBC News.

"When they discovered it, they were fearful the bones were exposed, so they moved the material to a little nook（角落，隐匿处） to protect it."

Having sought official permission to remove the fossil from the cave, Dr Rosenberger returned to with the scuba divers to retrieve² it in October of last year.

The divers packed the skeleton into tupperware（特百惠，保鲜盒） boxes in order to bring it safely to the surface.