Macaque
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| Crab-eating Macaque Macaca fascicularis | ||||||||||||||
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The macaques (genus Macaca) are 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 have been used extensively in medical research.
In the late 1990s it was discovered that nearly all (c. 90%) of pet or captive macaques are carriers of the herpes-B virus. This virus is harmless to macaques, however infections of humans, while rare, are potentially fatal.
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 or Bokkoi, Macaca pagensis
- Siberut Macaque, Macaca siberu
- Moor Macaque, Macaca maura
- Booted Macaque, Macaca ochreata
- Macaca ochreata ochreata
- Macaca ochreata brunnescens
- Tonkean Macaque, Macaca tonkeana
- Heck's Macaque, Macaca hecki
- Gorontalo Macaque, Macaca nigriscens
- Celebes Crested Macaque or Black "Ape", Macaca nigra
- M. fascicularis group
- Crab-eating Macaque or Long-tailed Macaque or Kera, Macaca fascicularis
- Stump-tailed Macaque or Bear 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
- Macaca sinica sinica
- Macaca sinica aurifrons
- Bonnet Macaque, Macaca radiata
- Macaca radiata radiata
- Macaca radiata diluta
- Assam Macaque, Macaca assamensis
- Macaca assamensis assamensis
- Macaca assamensis pelops
- Tibetan Macaque or Milne-Edwards' Macaque, Macaca thibetana
- Arunachal Macaque or Munzala, Macaca munzala
- Toque Macaque, Macaca sinica
See also
External links
Categories: Old World monkeys