long-tailed macaque

Description:

The scientific name of the crab-eating macaque is Macaca fascicularis. Macaca comes from the Portuguese word macaco, which was picked up from makaku, a Fiot (West African language) word (kaku means 'monkey' in Fiot). Fascicularis is Latin for 'a small band or stripe'. Sir Thomas Raffles, who gave the animal its scientific name in 1821, did not specify what he meant by the use of this word, although it is presumed it had something to do with his observation of the animal's color.[7][not in citation given][page needed] This animal has several common names. It is often referred to as the long-tailed macaque due, unsurprisingly, to its unusually long tail that is often longer than the body. The species is also commonly known as the crab-eating macaque because it is often seen foraging beaches for crabs. Another common name for M. fascicularis is the cynomolgus monkey, which literally means "dog-milker" monkey; this is the name most commonly used in laboratory settings. In Indonesia, M. fascicularis and other macaque species are known generically as kera, possibly because of the high-pitched alarm calls they give when in danger ("krra! krra!").

Habitat:

The crab-eating macaque lives in a wide variety of habitats, including primary lowland rainforests, disturbed and secondary rainforests, and riverine and coastal forests of nipa palm and mangrove. They also easily adjust to human settlements; they are considered sacred at some Hindu temples and on some small islands, but a pest around farms and villages. Typically, they prefer disturbed habitats and forest periphery. The native range of this species includes most of mainland Southeast Asia, from extreme Southeastern Bangladesh down through Malaysia, and the Maritime Southeast Asia islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, offshore islands, the islands of the Philippines, and the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. This monkey is a rare example of a terrestrial mammal that violates the Wallace Line. M. fascicularis is an introduced alien species in several locations, including Hong Kong, western New Guinea, Anggaur Island in Palau, and Mauritius. Where it is not a native species, particularly on island ecosystems whose species often evolved in isolation from large predators, M. fascicularis is a documented threat to many native species. This has led the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to list M. fascicularis as one of the "100 worst invasive alien species".[20] Insofar as it is present as an invasive alien species on several islands, it has been labelled a "weed" species and is yet another significant ecological threat to those ecosystems and the species within them. However, M. fascicularis is not a threat to biodiversity in its native range.

Notes:

Long-tailed macaques extensively overlap with humans across their range in Southeast Asia. Consequently, people and long-tailed macaques live together in many locations. Some of these areas are associated with religious sites and local customs, such as the temples of Bali in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia, while other areas are characterized by conflict as a result of habitat loss and competition over food and space.[21] Humans and long-tailed macaques have shared environments since prehistoric times, and tend to both frequent forest and river edge habitats.