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Project Noah Nature School
Macaca mulatta
Found this monkey skull under a tree, deep in the jungle. Photos 1 & 2 as it was found Photos 3 & 4 after cleaning it up
What's in our head now, is what it is before. What it is now, is what in our head will become.
thanks Gerardo. We literally stumbled on it under a tree, mostly hidden under soil and leaves, just the top part of the skull exposed.
thanks to Jakubko, S Frazier, Argy Bee and Leuba, Gina423, gilma, and sarahaw1981.
No problem. By postcrania I mean bones other than the skull. Sorry I was a bit too technical with my analysis.
Sorry I didn't get a photo of the back of the skull, but that appeared to be complete, no obvious injuries.
I don't see very much trauma to the skull, so any perimortem injuries must have happened to the postcrania, which we unfortunately don't have. I don't know much about the area that this macaque was found, but common predators of macaques in SE Asia range from raptors, crocodiles, snakes, tigers, leopards, even large dogs and weasels. He could have been plucked up by a bird or could have had his neck snapped by a snake or a cat. Usually the brain is good pickens for eagles, and I don't see any of the trademark talon marks on the face and eye sockets, so I'm inclined to rule that out.
Gina,what do you think was he cause of death for this Adolescent?Too much monkey business?
You confirmed my suspicions then. This is a rhesus macaque, and a juvenile at that. The canine that is left in its mouth is not broken, but underdeveloped, and the skull sutures are cracked more along the suture lines because the little guy's skull was still fusing shut. Compare the male, female and juvenile macaque skulls here for yourself: http://www.cmnh.org/site/ResearchandColl...
Unfortunately I am back in India. Didn't think to photograph the underside! But the only monkeys I saw around Angkor Wat were Rhesus.
What a great find, congratulations. Now, can someone ID this one!?
I study primates. If you could post a photo of the underside of the skull, specifically of the teeth, I could get a better idea of what kind of primate it is. Unfortunately, its canines are broken off/missing, which would be a dead giveaway for me.
Spotted on Mar 10, 2013
Submitted on Mar 15, 2013
