Arunachalmakak
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Arunachalmakak ( Macaca munzala ) |
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| Macaca munzala | ||||||||||||
| Sinha et al., 2004 |
The Arunachal macaque ( Macaca munzala ) is a primate species from the genus of macaques within the family of Cercopithecidae (Cercopithecidae). The species was not scientifically described until 2004 .
Features and way of life
Arunachalm macaques are relatively sturdy. Their fur is dark and the tail is rather short, and the face is also very dark. These primates are only known from a small area in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the far northeast of India . Their habitat are forests between 2000 and 3500 meters above sea level. They are diurnal and mostly stay on the ground. Like all macaques, they mainly feed on fruits, but they also eat leaves and small animals.
Systematics
The Arunachalmakak is systematically classified within the macaques in the sinica group. The closest relatives of this species are probably the Tibetan macaque and the Assam macaque . It differs from these in the length of the tail, the coloration and its marking habits.
Arunachalmakaen and people
The species was first discovered by Anindya Sinha and his colleagues in 2004 and described for the first time in 2005 in the “ International Journal of Primatology ”. Like most new discoveries, this one was more the result of chance. While mapping a forest on the northeast border between India and the People's Republic of China , a group of researchers from the Nature Conservation Foundation in Mysore came across the species known only to the locals. The specific epithet munzala is derived from the local population's name for the species.
The last species of monkey found in India was the golden langur , discovered in Assam in 1955 . It has been over 100 years since a new species of macaque was discovered: the Mentawai macaque in Indonesia .
Since the newly discovered macaque lives in an area that is highly stressed by the high population density, the research group asked the government to put the 1,200 square kilometer area under protection. She was able to discover traces of 14 monkey troops of the species in the area. The total population is estimated to be less than 600 animals.
literature
- Anindya Sinha, Aparajita Datta, MM Madhusudan, Charudutt Mishra: Macaca munzala: a new species from western Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. In: International Journal of Primatology. 26, 4, 2005, ISSN 0164-0291 , pp. 977-989. ( online (PDF; 700 kB) ).
Web links
- Sally Walker and Sanjay Molur: Guide to South Asian Primates for Teachers and Students of All Ages (PDF) , p. 32 (1.99 MB)
- Macaca munzala inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Kumar, A., Sinha, A. & Kumar, S., 2008. Retrieved October 10, 2013.