Japanese macaque

Japanese macaque
A Japanese macaque mother grooming her child
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Macaca
Species:
M. fuscata
Binomial name
Macaca fuscata
Blyth, 1875[2]
Subspecies

Macaca fuscata fuscata
Macaca fuscata yakui

Japanese macaque range

The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the ground for months each year – no other non-human primate lives farther north, nor in a colder climate.[3] Individuals have brownish grey fur, pinkish-red faces, and short tails. Two subspecies are known.[4]

In Japan, the species is known as Nihonzaru (ニホンザル, a combination of Nihon 日本 "Japan" + saru 猿 "monkey") to distinguish it from other primates, but the Japanese macaque is very familiar in Japan—as it is the only species of monkey in Japan—so when Japanese people simply say saru, they usually have the Japanese macaque in mind.

  1. ^ Watanabe, K.; Tokita, K. (2020). "Macaca fuscata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T12552A195347803. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T12552A195347803.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ Blyth, Edward (1875). "Catalogue of the Mammals and Birds of Burma". The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 44 (II. Extra Number): 6.
  3. ^ Jigokudani Monkey Park, Nagano: Explore the Heart of Japan
  4. ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 162. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.