Moor macaque

Moor macaque[1]
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. maura
Binomial name
Macaca maura
(Schinz, 1825)
Moor macaque range

The Moor macaque (Macaca maura) is a macaque monkey with brown/black body fur with a pale rump patch and pink bare skin on the rump. It has ischial callosities, which are oval-shaped.[3] It is about 50–58.5 cm long, and eats figs, bamboo seeds, buds, sprouts, invertebrates and cereals in tropical rainforests. It is sometimes called "dog-ape" because of its dog-like muzzle, although it is no more closely related to apes than any other Old World monkey is. It is endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, which is an important biodiversity hotspot.[3]

The Moor macaque is threatened mostly due to habitat loss from an expanding human population and deforestation to increase agricultural land area. The Macaca maura population is estimated to have decreased from 56,000 in 1983 to under 10,000 in 1994.[4] In 1992, Supriatna et al. 1992 conducted an extensive survey and found 6.3–63.2 individuals/km2.[2][5] They usually live in groups of 15-40 individuals,[6] with female philopatry and male dispersal and they are diurnal and semi-terrestrial. They spend a lot of their time in trees foraging and on the ground travelling.[7]

According to the Behavioural Data collection done on 2 groups of Moor macaques in the Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park in South Sulawesi,[6] this species spends most of their time feeding in places where food resources are abundant. The results also show that Moor macaques tend to spend more time foraging as the group size increases as they spend less time in alertness.

The population of this species is highly endangered due to serious anthropogenic activities like agriculture and tourism, which contribute to its habitat loss.[8] Like many other frugivorous primates, Moor macaques  have made significant contributions to the environment, helping to support high densities of seedlings and saplings as well as the process of gene flow among plant populations. This is crucial for sustaining forest regeneration and restoring vegetation in degraded forests.[9]

This species has been on the IUCN Red list of threatened species (A2cd) since 2015.[10]

  1. ^ 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. pp. 162–163. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b Supriatna, J.; Shekelle, M. & Burton, J. (2008). "Macaca maura". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. IUCN: e.T12553A3356200. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T12553A3356200.en.
  3. ^ a b Evans, B. J.; Supriatna, J.; Melnick, D. J. (2001). "Hybridization and Population Genetics of Two Macaque Species in Sulawesi, Indonesia". Evolution. 55 (8): 1686–2302. doi:10.1554/0014-3820(2001)055[1686:hapgot]2.0.co;2. ISSN 0014-3820. PMID 11580028.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Evans2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Supriatna_etal1992 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Albani, Alessandro; Cutini, Maurizio; Germani, Lavinia; Riley, Erin P.; Ngakan, Putu Oka; Carosi, Monica (September 2020). "Activity budget, home range, and habitat use of moor macaques (Macaca maura) in the karst forest of South Sulawesi, Indonesia". Primates. 61 (5): 673–684. doi:10.1007/s10329-020-00811-8. ISSN 0032-8332. PMID 32170514. S2CID 212681229.
  7. ^ "Moor Macaque | New England Primate Conservancy". 2021-12-11. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  8. ^ Beltrán Francés, Víctor; Spaan, Denise; Amici, Federica; Maulany, Risma Illa; Putu Oka, Ngakan; Majolo, Bonaventura (April 2022). "Effect of Anthropogenic Activities on the Population of Moor Macaques (Macaca maura) in South Sulawesi, Indonesia". International Journal of Primatology. 43 (2): 339–359. doi:10.1007/s10764-022-00279-x. ISSN 0164-0291. S2CID 247068580.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Macaca maura: Riley, E., Lee, R., Sangermano, F., Cannon, C. & Shekelle, M". 2015-11-22. doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2020-3.rlts.t12553a197831931.en. S2CID 239444667. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)