Nicobar long-tailed macaque
| Nicobar long-tailed macaque | |
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| Nicobar long-tailed macaque in Nicobar Islands, India | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | Cercopithecidae |
| Genus: | Macaca |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | M. f. umbrosa
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| Trinomial name | |
| Macaca fascicularis umbrosa Miller, 1902
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The Nicobar long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis umbrosa, popularly known as the Nicobar monkey) is a
Morphology
The Nicobar long-tailed macaque has brownish to grey fur, with lighter colouration on its undersides. Its face is pinkish-brown, with white colour spots on its eyelids. Infants are born with a dark
Distribution
A 2003 study identified some 788 groups of this subspecies in the wild across the three islands, in group sizes averaging 36 individuals, although groups of up to 56 were recorded.[3] The groups are composed of multiple adult males and females, together with their immature offspring. Adult females in a group outnumbered the adult males by a general ratio of 4:1, with the ratio of immature young macaques to adult females being near-equal, indicative of a healthy population replenishment.
Apart from these populations in the wild, only a single group (as of 2002) of some 17 individuals is held in an Indian
Populations of this subspecies are particularly noted in the
As with other primates whose habitats overlap with or are encroached upon by human settlement activities, there is some risk of zoonotic disease transference to individuals who come into close contact with them.[2] One 1984 study has identified their susceptibility to malarial parasites.[6]
Habitat
Its preferred
Behaviour
The Nicobar long-tailed macaque is a frugivore, with its principal diet consisting of fruits and nuts. In common with other crab-eating macaques it turns to other sources of food—typically in the dry and early rainy tropical seasons—when the preferred fruits are unavailable. This alternate diet includes young leaves, insects, flowers, seeds, and bark; it is also known to eat small crabs, frogs and other creatures taken from the shorelines and mangroves when foraging in these environments.[7] Macaque populations which live in areas close to human settlements and farms frequently raid the croplands for food, and have even entered dwellings in search of sustenance if not actively discouraged by human presence.
Like all primates, it is a social animal, and spends a good deal of time interacting and grooming with other group members. It typically forages for food in the morning, resting in groups during the midday hours and then a subsequent period of foraging in the early evening before returning to designated roosting trees to sleep for the night.[2]
It moves
Conservation status
Their conservation status as documented by the IUCN Red List is listed as vulnerable, having been amended in 2004 from the taxon's previous status as data deficient following some more extensive studies. This reflects the likely increase in disturbances to their habitat caused by human activities, in particular on the island of Katchal.[1] The Wildlife Institute of India however registered their status in 2002 as critically endangered, reflecting also their concerns that conservation efforts with regards to a defined captive breeding programme were deficient.[4]
Notes
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d Cawthorn Lang 2006
- ^ a b Umapathy et al. 2003
- ^ a b Walker & Molur 2001
- ^ Department of Environment & Forest, A & N Administration. "Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve". Archived from the original on 2006-02-08. Retrieved 2006-01-17.
- ^ Sinha & Gajana 1984:567 (abstract)
- ^ Cawthorn Long 2006; Walker & Molur 2003:29
References
- Abegg, C.; B. Thierry (2002). "Macaque evolution and dispersal in insular south-east Asia". OCLC 108076291.
- Andrews, Harry V.; Allen Vaughan (2005). "Ecological Impact Assessment in the Andaman Islands and Observations in the Nicobar Islands" (PDF). In Rahul Kaul; Vivek Menon (eds.). The Ground Beneath the Waves: Post-tsunami Impact Assessment of Wildlife and their Habitats in India. Conservation action series, 20050904. Vol. 2. New Delhi: OCLC 74354708. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
- OCLC 83652615.
- Cawthorn Lang, K.A. (2006). "Primate Factsheets: Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology". Primate Info Net. National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Retrieved 17 January 2006.
- OCLC 1282520.
- Fooden, Jack (May 2006). "Comparative Review of Fascicularis-Group Species of Macaques (Primates: Macaca)". OCLC 70137322.
- Fooden, Jack; Gene H. Albrecht (December 1993). "Latitudinal and insular variation of skull size in crab-eating macaques (Primates, Cercopithecidae: Macaca fascicularis)". PMID 8296879.
- OCLC 6362644.
- OCLC 24358381.
- Molur, Sanjay; Douglas Brandon-Jones; Wolfgang Dittus; Ardith Eudey; Ajith Kumar; Mewa Singh; M.M. Feeroz; Mukesh Chalise; Padma Priya & Sally Walker (2003). Status of South Asian Primates: Conservation Assessment and Management Plan (C.A.M.P.) Workshop Report, 2003 (PDF). Report no. 22; ZOO and IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group workshop, held State Forest Service College, Coimbatore 5–9 March 2002. Coimbatore, India: OCLC 56116296. Archived from the original(PDF) on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
- OCLC 493193536.
- Poole, Arthur James; Viola S. Shantz (1942). Catalog of the type specimens of mammals in the United States National Museum, including the biological surveys collection. United States National Museum Bulletin, no. 178. Washington DC: OCLC 2153011.
- Sankaran, R. (2005). "Impact of the Earthquake and the Tsunami on the Nicobar Islands" (PDF). In Rahul Kaul; Vivek Menon (eds.). The Ground Beneath the Waves: Post-tsunami Impact Assessment of Wildlife and their Habitats in India. Conservation action series, 20050904. Vol. 2. New Delhi: OCLC 74354708. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
- Sinha, S.; A. Gajana (1984). "First report of natural infection with quartan malaria parasite Plasmodium shortti in Macaca fascicularis umbrosa (= virus) of Nicobar Islands". PMID 6485074.
- Sivakumar, K. (July 2006). "Wildlife and Tsunami: A rapid assessment on the impact of tsunami on the Nicobar megapode and other associated coastal species in the Nicobar group of islands" (PDF). WII Research Reports. Dehra Dūn, India: Wildlife Institute of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- Umapathy, G.; Mewa Singh; S.M. Mohnot (April 2003). "Status and Distribution of Macaca fascicularis umbrosa in the Nicobar Islands, India". S2CID 12851499.
- Walker, Sally; Sanjay Molur (December 2001). "Problems of Prioritizing Primate Species for Captive Breeding in Indian Zoos" (PDF). In A.K. Gupta (volume (ed.). Non-human Primates of India. ENVIS Bulletin: Wildlife and Protected Areas. Vol. 1. Dehra Dūn, India: OCLC 50908207.
- Walker, Sally (2007). Sanjay Molur (compilers (ed.). Guide to South Asian Primates for Teachers and Students of All Ages (PDF). ZOO Education Booklet, no. 20. Coimbatore, India: ISBN 978-81-88722-20-4. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- Narasimmarajan, K. (2012). "Status of long tailed macaque (Macaca facsicularis umrosa) and conservation of the recovery population in the great nicobar island, India". .