Japanese Macaque

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The Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata), also known as the Snow Monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species native to northern Japan, although an introduced free-ranging population has been living near Laredo, Texas since 1972. It is the most northern-living non-human primate. The Japanese Macaque has brown-gray fur, a red face, hands and bottom, and a short tail.

The Japanese Macaque is diurnal and spends most of its time in forests. It lives in a variety of forest-types, including subtropical to subalpine, deciduous, broadleaf and evergreen forests, below 1500 m. It feeds on seeds, roots, buds, fruit, invertebrates, berries, leaves, birds eggs, fungi, bark and cereals. It has a body length ranging from 79 to 95 cm, with a tail length of approximately 10 cm. Males weigh from 10 to 14 kg, females, around 5.5 kg.

The Japanese Macaques at Jigokudani hotspring in Nagano have become famous for their winter visits to the spa.

The Japanese Macaque is the most northerly-living non-human primate, living in mountainous areas of Honshu, Japan. It survives winter temperatures below -15 °C, and is perhaps most famous for the amount of time it spends relaxing in naturally heated volcanic hot springs.

Jigokudani HotSpring in Nagano Prefecture,Japan

The Japanese Macaque lives in multi-male and female groups, and on average, females outnumber males by 3 to 1. The females have a rigid hierarchy with infants inheriting their mother's rank. The males tend to be transient within the troop. After a gestation period of 173 days, females bear only one baby, which weighs about 500 g at birth. This macaque has an average lifespan of 30 years.

The Japanese Macaque is classified as Data Deficient by the 2000 IUCN Red List.

The Japanese Macaque is very smart. It is the only animal other than humans and raccoons that is known to wash its food before eating it. Researchers studying this species left sweet potatoes out on the beach for them to feed on, then witnessed one female taking the food down to the sea to wash the sand off it. After a while, others started to copy her behavior. This trait was then passed on from generation to generation, until eventually, all except the very oldest members of the troop were washing their food in the sea. A somewhat altered account of this incident was the basis for the "Hundredth Monkey" meme.

Also in recent studies, it has been found that the Japanese Macaque can develop different accents, like humans. It was found that macaques in areas separated by only a couple hundred miles can have very different pitches in their calls, their form of communication. The Japanese Macaque has been involved in many studies concerning neuroscience and also is used in drug testing. [link]

It is often the subject of Buddhist myths, and is thought to be the inspiration behind the saying "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."

There are two subspecies of this macaque:

• Macaca fuscata fuscata
• Yakushima Macaque, Macaca fuscata yakui

References