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Macaques
	Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fascicularis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Chordata;
Class:	Mammalia;
Order:	Primates;
Family:	Cercopithecidae;
Subfamily:	Cercopithecinae;
Genus:	Macaca; Lacepede, 1799
Type species
	Simia inuus; Linnaeus, 1758 = Simia sylvanus Linnaeus, 1758
Species
	See text.

Bonnet Macaque (Macaca radiata) seen in Nelliampathi mountains in Kerala, south India

Stump-tailed Macaque (Macaca arctoides)

Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata)

Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina)

The macaques (pronounced /məˈkæk/) constitute a genus (Macaca, /məˈkækə/) of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae.

Aside from humans (genus Homo), the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from northern Africa to Japan. Twenty-two macaque species are currently recognised, and they include some of the monkeys best known to non-zoologists, such as the Rhesus Macaque (as the Rhesus Monkey), Macaca mulatta, and the Barbary Macaque (as the Barbary Ape), M. sylvanus, a colony of which lives on the Rock of Gibraltar. Although several species lack tails, and their common names therefore refer to them as apes, these are true monkeys, with no greater relationship to the true apes than any other Old World monkeys.

Several species of macaque are used extensively in animal testing.

In the late 1990s it was discovered that nearly all (about 90%)^{[citation needed]} pet and captive macaques are carriers of the herpes B virus. This virus is harmless to macaques, but infections of humans, whilst rare, are potentially fatal. A 2005 University of Toronto study showed that urban performing macaques also carried simian foamy virus, suggesting they could be involved in the species-to-species jump of similar retroviruses to humans.^[2]

Macaques also have a very intricate social structure and hierarchy. If a macaque who is lower level in the social chain has eaten berries and there is none left for the higher level macaque, then the one higher in status can, within this social organization, remove the berries from the other monkey's mouth. ^[3]

[edit] Species list

Genus Macaca

M. sylvanus group
- Barbary Macaque, Macaca sylvanus
M. nemestrina group
- Lion-tailed Macaque, Macaca silenus
- Southern Pig-tailed Macaque or Beruk, Macaca nemestrina
- Northern Pig-tailed Macaque, Macaca leonina
- Pagai Island Macaque, Macaca pagensis
- Siberut Macaque, Macaca siberu
- Moor Macaque, Macaca maura
- Booted Macaque, Macaca ochreata
- Tonkean Macaque, Macaca tonkeana
- Heck's Macaque, Macaca hecki
- Gorontalo Macaque, Macaca nigriscens
- Celebes Crested Macaque, Macaca nigra
M. fascicularis group
- Crab-eating Macaque, Macaca fascicularis
- Stump-tailed Macaque, Macaca arctoides
M. mulatta group
- Rhesus Macaque, Macaca mulatta
- Formosan Rock Macaque, Macaca cyclopis
- Japanese Macaque, Macaca fuscata
M. sinica group
- Toque Macaque, Macaca sinica
- Bonnet Macaque, Macaca radiata
- Assam Macaque, Macaca assamensis
- Tibetan Macaque, Macaca thibetana
- Arunachal Macaque, Macaca munzala

Prehistoric (fossil) species:

Macaca anderssoni Schlosser, 1924
Macaca jiangchuanensis Pan et al.^{[verification needed]}, 1992
Macaca libyca Stromer, 1920
Macaca majori Schaub & Azzaroli in Comaschi Caria, 1969 (sometimes included in M. sylvanus)

[edit] References

^ Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M.. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 161-165. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.
^ University of Toronto - News@UofT - Performing monkeys in Asia carry viruses that could jump species to humans (Dec 8/05)
^ "The Life of Mammals" Hosted by David Attenborough, 2003 British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC Video

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Macaca

Wikispecies has information related to: Macaque

[msw3-0] Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M.. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 161-165. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.

[1] University of Toronto - News@UofT - Performing monkeys in Asia carry viruses that could jump species to humans (Dec 8/05)

[2] "The Life of Mammals" Hosted by David Attenborough, 2003 British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC Video

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Contents

[edit] Species list

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links