A mysterious and elusive Amazonian monkey has been spotted in the wild for the first time in 80 years.

The Vanzolini bald-faced saki has shaggy black hair and distinctive golden legs and was first documented in 1936.

A team which undertook an expedition to the rainforest in Brazil in 1956 encountered only dead monkeys, meaning Laura Marsh, director of the Global Conservation Institute, was the first to see one alive in eight decades, during a recent trek.

The saki expert told National Geographic: "I was trembling and so excited I could barely take a picture."

Dr Marsh organised her "Houseboat Amazon" team to document the biodiversity in the region near Brazil's border with Peru—but with a special focus on finding the Vanzolini saki.

They accomplished the mission on the fourth day, National Geographic reported.