Rhesus Monkey-saveforforest

Rhesus Monkey

Appearance

Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) is probably the most famous member of the genus. These are rather large dense monkeys: the body length of males ranges from 45.5 to 63.5 cm, females - from 37 to 58 cm, the body weight of males 6 - 14.4 kg, females 3 - 10.7 kg. The color of the coat in rhesus macaque is dull greenish-yellow; the face, ears and hands are pale meat; the back of the body is brighter (with an orange-red tint) than the front; the tail is covered with hairs, short.

Scientific classification

                                                      Intermediate Ranks

Domain	Eukaryotes
Kingdom	Animals
Type	Chordates
Class	Mammals
Order	Primates
Family	Monkey
Genus	Macaque
View	Rhesus monkey

 International scientific name

                  Macaca mulatta (Zimmermann, 1780)

Spread

Rhesus macaque is the most prosperous and widespread species of primates in the world, their range and abundance are very high; they are found in Pakistan, India, in the Himalayas from Nepal to North Burma, in southern China, and the countries of Indochina. In India and Nepal, thanks to the patronizing attitude of the population with the Hindu religion, Rhesus live in the cultural landscape, including in large cities. The Indians consider them sacred animals and sometimes leave for them an un harvested part of the crop in their fields.

Breeding

Pregnancy in bear macaques lasts 164 days, 1 baby is born, which the mother feeds up to a year. Maturity in a female Rhesus occurs in 2.5-3 years, male - in 4 years.

Lifestyle & Nutrition

Rhesus live in herds of 20 to 200 individuals in forests or on open mountain slopes. They are not afraid of water, swim well and dive. Clans consisting of family groups are headed by one male, and the whole herd can be controlled by one or more leaders. Like most macaque species, bear macaques lead a semi-woody and semi-terrestrial lifestyle. These omnivorous primates are looking for their very diverse food on trees and on the ground. Sometimes they are very aggressive. There were cases when a group of Rhesus with a noisy attack drove from a fruiting tree, a feeding Himalayan bear or a gubach bear.

Tongue

Rhesus monkeys are characterized by several types of screams. Rhesus makes these sounds in various situations:

• A monkey roars, who is self-confident and threatens another, lower rank.
• Noisy shortness of breath-a threat comes from a less confident Rhesus, who wants to get the support of relatives during the attack.
• A bark indicates a threat to someone who is not aggressive enough to attack.
• Grunt emits a slightly alarmed rhesus.
• A shrill barking is a specific alarm, issued at the sight of a predator.
• A piercing scream first sounds on a very high note, then abruptly breaks off; such a sound is emitted by a rhesus threatened by a relative of a high rank.
• The "cackling" cry is heard from the one to whom the congener threatens.
• The screeching monkey emits a squeal, bitten during a fight.
• Squeak is the sound of a Rhesus defending during a fight, whose strength is running out.

Features

In the Caribbean Primatological Center, where monkeys live on the islands and are kept in free conditions, it was shown that a group of young monkeys belonged to a 25-year-old female giving birth for the last time in 17 years, and now becoming old, decrepit, suffering from arthritis and almost lost her sight with touching respect. It turned out that these are relatives! When the female lagged behind during transitions, she was always awaited by an adult grandson or great-grandson, who then moved with her.

Humanity should be grateful to Rhesus, since it was on this form that more than 40% of all world studies on monkeys in physiology, more than half of the work on the study of vision and over 50% of radiobiological experiments were carried out. The Rhesus factor, a factor of blood compatibility, has been discovered on these monkeys. We owe it to them that our children do not suffer from polio, that the terrible epidemics of yellow fever have disappeared and the opportunity has appeared to resist malaria and tuberculosis. Rhesus macaques are found in many vivariums as a model object for medical, ethological and neurobiological studies.