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Cynomolgus macaque

Also called crab-eating, long-tailed macaques, or Macaca fascicularis in latin. There are ten sub-species of cynomologus macaques. They appear on the IUCN Red List of threatened species and have been categorised as ‘Endangered‘.

In this section

Physical characteristics

A cynomolgus macaque hangs upside down on a perch fixed to the enclosure ceiling makes use of the 3D space.
A cynomolgus macaque hangs upside down on a perch
  • Upper body: dark brown with golden brown hair tips.
  • Body length: 38- 55 cm.
  • Backwards directed crown hairs which can form short crests on the midline of the head.
  • Head: typically golden brown on the top and sides.
  • Males have a moustache and cheek whiskers, females only have cheek whiskers.
  • Skin: black on the feet and ears, greyish pink on the muzzle, white eyelids.
  • Shorter arms and legs in relation to the body size than rhesus macaques.
  • Light grey underside.
  • Weight: males 5-9kg and females 3-6kg.
  • Tail: very long (40-65 cm) colouring is dark grey to brown.

 

Habitat

  • Second largest distribution of any non-human primate [1].
  • Native to Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Philippines and the Nicobar Islands [2].
  • Introduced to Mauritius, Hong Kong, Angaur Island and western New Guinea [3-7].
  • Habitat ranges from lowland rainforests to shrubland, coastal forests and mangroves [8,9].
  • Primarily arboreal in forest environments, but also spends time on the ground [10-12]. Can be highly terrestrial in disturbed areas where the canopy cover is low [13].
  • Prefers riverine forests; also disturbed forests and forest edges [2,11].
  • See the IUCN Red List website for a map of the geographical range of this species (excluding introduced populations).
  • A cynomolgus macaque in its natural habitat sitting in mangroves
    Sitting in mangroves
  • Cynomolgus macaques in their natural habitat resting on branches in trees. Some are engaging in grooming
    Resting in trees
  • Cynomolgus macaques in their natural habitat resting at a temple
    Resting at a temple
  • Cynomolgus macaques in their natural habitat bathing in hot springs
    Cynomolgus bathing in hotsprings
  • Map showing the distribution of cynomolgus macaques in Asia
    Map showing the distribution of cynomolgus macaques in Asia shaded in grey. Their distribution covers Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand (Image credit: Michael Gumert; Cambridge University Press)

Ecology and behaviour

(From Tasker 2012)

Ecology Behaviour
Habitat

Primary and secondary forests close to water		 Locomotion depends on habitat: in South East Asia, arboreal but able to exploit terrestrial habitats; in Mauritius, primarily terrestrial. Adapted to climbing and leaping (up to 5m); tails are used for balance. Good swimmers may be important for predator avoidance and accessing food. Vertical escape routes utilised to avoid predators [10,12-14].
Home range

1.24km [1]; highly variable daily path length 150,  1,900m		 Long distances covered when searching for food. Feeding (30% of observation time) and moving (23%) are the most common activities observed in Mauritius [15,16].
Diet

Diverse, seasonally dependant, primarily frugivorous. Also consume insects, leaves, invertebrates, crabs, frogs, shrimp, bark and clay		 Eclectic diet, but selective. Cheek pouches enable storing of food during foraging. Food is transported away from the foraging site for consumption, often to avoid competition from dominant conspecifics [12,15,17-20].
Activity patterns

Primarily diurnal		 Activity is centered on feeding and foraging in the morning and afternoon. Rest during midday. Enter sleeping trees around 18:00h and remain until early morning (05:30h) [21,22].
Sleeping behaviour

Roost in groups		 Return to same sleeping site each evening. Animals sleep huddled together at the edges of branches to avoid ground-dwelling predators. Branches nearest the top of the tree are chosen, as are trees that border water. Predator avoidance involves dropping from trees and swimming away from any potential predators [12-14].
Group living

Group sizes range from <10 to >85 individuals		 Variable group sizes depending on habitat and ecological conditions. Stable groups each with a home range. Break into sub-groups throughout the day. Multi-male/multi-female groups. Sex ratio 1 adult male: 3 adult females. Females remain in natal group (philopatry). Males emigrate from their natal group (4-6 years of age) with their peers before they reach sexual maturity. Males may migrate to other groups many times during their life. May exist as solitary males and/or all male groups [12, 23-26].
Social behaviour

Hierarchical		 Highly social, hierarchical relationships. Organised around matrilines, mothers, daughters and sisters. Females and males have strict dominance hierarchies. Group cohesion is maintained through allogrooming. Group living necessitates complex social communication skills [26].

 

References

  1. Wheatley BP (1999). The sacred monkeys of bali, 1st edition. Waveland Press.


  2. Fooden J (2006). Comparative review of fascicularis-group species of macaques (primates: Macaca). Fieldiana Zoology 107: 1-43

  3. Poirier FE and Smith EO (1974). The crab-eating macaques (macaca fascicularis) of angaur island, palau, micronesia. Folia Primatologica 22(4): 258-306. https://doi.org/10.1159/000155631

  4. Fittinghoff NA and Lindberg DG (1980). Riverine refuging in eastern bornean macaca fascicularis. In: The macaques: Studies in ecology, behavior and evolution (Ed., Lindber DG) (1 ed., pp. 182-214). Van Nostrand Reinhold.

  5. Kyes RC (1993). Survey of the long-tailed macaques introduced onto tinjil island, indonesia. American Journal of Primatology 31(1): 77-83. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.1350310108

  6. Stanley M-A and Griffiths OL (1997). Supplying primates for research. In: Conservation and the use of wildlife resources (Ed., Bolton M) (pp. 191-8). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1445-2_11

  7. Ong P and Richardson M (2008). Macaca fascicularis. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2.

  8. Groves C (2001). Primate taxonomy, 1st edition. Smithsonian Institution Press.

  9. Nowak RM (1999). Walker's primates of the world, 1st and 2nd edition., Vol. 6. John Hopkins University Press.

  10. Rodman PS (1991). Structural differentiation of microhabitats of sympatric macaca fascicularis and m. Nemestrina in east kalimantan, indonesia. International Journal of Primatology 12. 

  11. Gumert MD (2011). The status and distribution of long-tailed macaques. In: Monkeys on the edge ecology and management of long-tailed macaques and their interface with humans (Eds. Gumert MD, Fuentes A, and Jones-Engel L) (pp. 1-44). Cambridge Univ Pr..

  12.  Sussman RF et al. (2011). Macaca fascicularis in mauritius: Implications for macaque–human interactions and for future research on long-tailed macaques. In: Monkeys on the edge ecology and management of long-tailed macaques and their interface with humans (Eds. Gumert MD, Fuentes A, and Jones-Engel L) (1 ed., pp. 207-35). Cambridge University Press.

  13. Supriatna J et al. (1996). A preliminary survey of long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques (macaca fascicularis and macaca nemestrina) in lampung, bengkulu, and jampi provinces, southern sumatera, indonesia. Tropic Biodiv 3(2): 131-40.

  14. van Schaik CP et al. (1996). Riverine refuging by wild sumatran long-tailed macaques (macaca fascicularis). In: Evolution and ecology of macaque societies. (Eds. Fa JE and Lindburg DG) (pp. 160-81). Cambridge Univ Pr.

  15. Wheatley BP (1980). Feeding and ranging of east bornean macaca fascicularis. In: The macaques: Studies in ecology, behavior, and evolution (Ed., Lindburg DG) (pp. 215-46). Van Nostrand Reinhold.

  16. Sussman RW and Tattersall I (1981). Behavior and ecology of macacafascicularis in mauritius: A preliminary study. Primates 22: 192-205. 

  17. Sussman RW and Tattersall I (1986). Distribution, abundance, and putative ecological strategy of macaca fascicularis on the island of mauritius, southwestern indian ocean. Folia Primatologica 46(1): 28-43. doi: 10.1159/000156234

  18. Yeager CP (1996). Feeding ecology of the long-tailed macaque (macaca fascicularis) in kalimantan tengah, indonesia. International Journal of Primatology 17.

  19. Lucas PW and Corlett RT (1999). Seed dispersal by long‐tailed macaques. American Journal of Primatology 45(1): 29-44. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2345(1998)45:1<29::AID-AJP4>3.0.CO;2-Y 

  20. Son VD (2003). Diet of macaca fascicularis in a mangrove forest, vietnam. Laboratory Primate Newsletter 42(4): 1-5.

  21. Gurmaya KJ et al. (1994). A preliminary study on ecology and conservation of the java primates in ujung kulon national park, west java, indonesia. In: Current primatology. Volume 1, ecology and evolution. (Eds. Thierry B, Anderson JR, Roeder JJ, and Herrenschmidt N) (Vol. 1, pp. 87-92). Univ Louis Pasteur.

  22. Son VD (2004). Time budgets of macaca fascicularis in a mangrove forest, vietnam. Laboratory Primate Newsletter 43(3): 1-4.

  23. Angst W (1975). Basic data and concepts on the social organization of macaca fascicularis. In: Primate behavior: Developments in field and laboratory research (Ed., Rosenblum LA) (Vol. 4, pp. 325-88). Academic Press.

  24. de Jong G et al. (1994). Genetic structure of a population with social structure and migration. In: Conservation genetics (Eds. Loeschcke V, Tomiuk J, and Jain SK) (1st edition., pp. 147-64).

  25. Van Noordwljk MA and Van Schaik CP. (1999). The effects of dominance rank and group size on female lifetime reproductive success in wild long-tailed macaques, macaca fascicularis.

  26. Engelhardt A et al. (2004). Assessment of female reproductive status by male longtailed macaques, macaca fascicularis, under natural conditions. Animal Behaviour 67(5): 915-24.