Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Stump-tailed macaques are na­tive to south­east Asia. Their dis­tri­b­u­tion in­cludes China, India, Burma, West Malaysia, Thai­land, Viet­nam, east­ern Bangladesh, and the Malay Penin­sula. There is an in­tro­duced pop­u­la­tion in Tanax­pillo, Ve­r­acruz, Mex­ico, an is­land not in­hab­ited by hu­mans, where they live in con­di­tions sim­i­lar to their nat­ural habi­tat in Asia. (Choud­hury, 2002; Fooden, 1990)

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • introduced
• palearctic
  • native

Habi­tat

Stump-tailed macaques are found in sub­trop­i­cal ever­green forests below 1500 m and trop­i­cal ever­green rain­forests be­tween 1800 and 2500 m. They live in wet en­vi­ron­ments and are not found in dry forests. (Fooden, et al., 1985; Fooden, 1990)

• Habitat Regions
• tropical
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest
• rainforest

• Range elevation

  2500 (high) m

  8202.10 (high) ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Stump-tailed macaques, also known as bear macaques, have shaggy, dark brown hair cov­er­ing them. They have hair­less faces with red skin which dark­ens with sun ex­po­sure. In­fants are born with white hair that dark­ens as they age. As they age, adult males and fe­males show bald­ing on the tops of their heads, much like human males, re­ced­ing from the fore­head to­wards the back of the skull. As in all other cer­co­p­ithecines, they have cheek pouches that they use to store food when for­ag­ing. They are ter­res­trial quadrupedal movers. (Fooden, et al., 1985; Fooden, 1990)

Stump-tailed macaques have hair­less tails that are shorter than other g.​Macaca species. Tail length ranges from 3.2 to 69 mm. This species is sex­u­ally di­mor­phic in many as­pects of their phys­i­ol­ogy. Males are larger, rang­ing from 9.9 to 10.2 kg and 517 to 650 mm in height whereas fe­males are 7.5 to 9.1 kg and 485 to 585 mm in height. Males also have much larger ca­nines, which they use for as­sert­ing dom­i­nance within their group. Like all cer­co­p­ithe­cids, they have a den­tal for­mula of: 2/2, 1/1, 2/2, 3/3. (Choud­hury, 2002; Fooden, 1990)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger

• Range mass

  7.5 to 10.2 kg

  16.52 to 22.47 lb

• Range length

  485 to 650 mm

  19.09 to 25.59 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

Stump-tailed macaques are promis­cu­ous in their mat­ing be­hav­ior. Dom­i­nance plays a big role in who gets to mate. High rank­ing males mo­nop­o­lize fe­males in the group. How­ever, lower rank­ing males have other strate­gies of ob­tain­ing mat­ing op­por­tu­ni­ties. They hang back and mate with fe­males when the dom­i­nant male is not watch­ing. Often re­ferred to as the "sneaker" male strat­egy. (Br­ere­ton, 1994; Fooden, 1990)

Both males and fe­males ini­ti­ate mat­ing, though males tend to be more ac­tive when it comes to sex­ual be­hav­ior. Fe­males make eye con­tact and pre­sent their per­ineal re­gion (rump). Males ap­proach fe­males and sit next to them. Males chat­ter their teeth and gri­mace. When cop­u­la­tion is oc­cur­ring, other group mem­bers often ha­rass the pair. (Br­ere­ton, 1994; Cerda-Molina, et al., 2006)

• Mating System
• polygynandrous (promiscuous)

In their na­tive habi­tat, stump-tail macaques breed dur­ing the months of Oc­to­ber and No­vem­ber. In cap­tiv­ity they don't re­pro­duce on any sea­sonal sched­ule. Fe­males have an off­spring about every 2 years. The ges­ta­tion pe­riod is 177 days. After birth, in­fants are nursed for 9 months. After wean­ing they are still de­pen­dent on their mother and other adults in the group and don't reach in­de­pen­dence until about 1.5 years old. (Br­ere­ton, 1994; Estrada and Estrada, 1984)

Young in­herit rank ma­ter­nally as fe­males are philopatric. Male young dis­perse some­time after in­de­pen­dence. (Br­ere­ton, 1994; Fooden, 1990)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• viviparous

• Breeding interval

  Stump-tailed macaques can reproduce about every 2 years.

• Breeding season

  Breeding occurs in October and November in wild, Feburary and March in the introduced Mexican population.

• Average number of offspring

  1

• Average gestation period

  177 days

• Average weaning age

  9 months

• Average time to independence

  18 months

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  4 years

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  4.5 to 5 years

The pri­mary care­giver for young is the mother. She nurses, car­ries, and pro­tects them. Ad­di­tion­ally, all the fe­males in the group care for the young of other fe­males, es­pe­cially if the mother is high rank­ing. Fe­males carry, play with, pro­tect, and groom the young. Alpha males will also help pro­tect young and in­fants since there is a good chance they are their off­spring. (Bauers and Hearn, 1994; Estrada and Estrada, 1984)

Stump-tailed macaques are more gen­tle with their young than other macaque species. Their is no threat of kid­nap­ping from other group mem­bers, so moth­ers tend to be le­nient with their young and give them in­de­pen­dence in ex­plor­ing the en­vi­ron­ment around them. (Bauers and Hearn, 1994; Estrada and Estrada, 1984)

• Parental Investment
• precocial
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-independence
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• post-independence association with parents
• extended period of juvenile learning
• maternal position in the dominance hierarchy affects status of young

Lifes­pan/Longevity

They can live up to 30 years in cap­tiv­ity. How­ever, they tend to have shorter lifes­pans in the wild. (Choud­hury, 2002)

• Average lifespan
  Status: captivity

  30 years

Be­hav­ior

Stump-tailed macaques live in groups of up to 60 in­di­vid­u­als con­sist­ing of adult males, fe­males, and young. Fe­males are philopatric and males leave after sex­ual ma­tu­rity. They are hi­er­ar­chi­cal, with rank being re­in­forced through phys­i­cal con­tact such as bit­ing and slap­ping. How­ever, com­pared to other macaque species, they are more peace­ful and egal­i­tar­ian in their so­cial struc­ture. When young males move into a new group they fight to es­tab­lish rank in the hi­er­ar­chy. After a dis­agree­ment or fight they have a spe­cific rit­ual of rec­on­cil­i­a­tion. The sub­or­di­nate will pre­sent his rump to the dom­i­nant male, who will kiss or em­brace the sub­or­di­nate. The sub­or­di­nate will re­spond by "lip smack­ing" or "teeth chat­ter­ing". (Maestrip­ieri, 1996)

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• diurnal
• motile
• nomadic
• sedentary
• territorial
• social
• dominance hierarchies

Home Range

Ter­ri­tory size is un­known but is be­lieved to be sev­eral square kilo­me­ters. Dur­ing the day they travel 2 to 3 kilo­me­ters. They tend to travel less dur­ing the rainy sea­son. After for­ag­ing dur­ing the day, they travel back to their sleep­ing sites in trees. (Choud­hury, 2002; Fooden, 1990)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

They com­mu­ni­cate mostly vi­su­ally and vo­cally. Com­mon forms of vi­sual com­mu­ni­ca­tion are "teeth chat­ter­ing", pre­sent­ing one's rump to an­other in­di­vid­ual, "lip smack­ing" and "barred teeth". When in heat, the fe­males have swellings on their be­hind. This is a form of sex­ual com­mu­ni­ca­tion, that they are re­cep­tive to mat­ing.

Vocal com­mu­ni­ca­tion often con­sists of "coo" which is used to stay in con­tact with other group mem­bers or when ap­proach­ing an­other in­di­vid­ual. They also use grunts when ap­proach­ing an­other after fight­ing or if they are in­ter­ested sex­u­ally. As men­tioned be­fore alpha males will "roar" to fend off preda­tors.

When in­fants are dis­tressed they will let out a shrill "whis­tle". (Fooden, 1990; Maestrip­ieri, 1996)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic

• Other Communication Modes
• pheromones

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• chemical

Food Habits

Stump-tailed macaques have cheek pouches that, when filled, can hold a vol­ume equal to that of their stom­ach. They for­age start­ing in the morn­ing through mid­day. They are om­niv­o­rous, but they eat mostly fruit. They also eat seeds, flow­ers, roots, leaves, and an­i­mals such as frogs, fresh­wa­ter crabs, birds, and bird eggs. They have also been known to raid corn crops and cul­ti­vated fruits. (Fooden, et al., 1985; Fooden, et al., 1985)

• Primary Diet
• herbivore
  • frugivore
• omnivore

• Animal Foods
• birds
• mammals
• amphibians
• reptiles
• eggs
• insects
• terrestrial worms
• aquatic crustaceans

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• roots and tubers
• seeds, grains, and nuts
• fruit
• flowers

• Foraging Behavior
• stores or caches food

Pre­da­tion

Po­ten­tial preda­tors are large rap­tors, com­mon leop­ards, dogs, and clouded leop­ards. To deter preda­tors, they shake branches, bare their ca­nines, as­sume ag­gres­sive pos­tures, and alpha males will "roar". (Chetry, et al., 2003)

• Known Predators

  • clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa)
  • large raptors (Accipitridae)
  • feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)
  • leopards (Panthera pardus)

Ecosys­tem Roles

Stump-tailed macaques con­tri­bu­tion to na­tive ecosys­tems as seed dis­persers. (Choud­hury, 2002; Fooden, 1990)

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Hu­mans have used stump-tailed macaques for test­ing the anti-hair­loss drug mi­nox­i­dil also known as Ro­gaine. By test­ing on the macaques, re­searchers were able to pro­duce a safe prod­uct for human use. (Uno, 1986)

• Positive Impacts
• research and education

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Stump-tailed macaques can be a nui­sance for farm­ers by crop raid­ing. (Fooden, 1990)

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

On the IUCN list stum-tailed macaques are con­sid­ered vul­ner­a­ble. They are at risk for ex­tinc­tion in the near fu­ture. Their pop­u­la­tions have de­creased 20% in the last 10 years. There have al­ready been in­stances of cer­tain pop­u­la­tions dis­ap­pear­ing. In­dian and Bangladesh pop­u­la­tions haven't been seen since 1990. Habi­tat and hunt­ing are the main causes and con­cerns for their con­ser­va­tion. They are also be­com­ing more un­com­mon in Thai­land and Malaysia. Human in­duced habi­tat change is the pri­mary cause of pop­u­la­tion de­cline. Urban and agri­cul­tural ex­pan­sion threat­ens na­tive habi­tats. In India, where these macaques are legally pro­tected, they have set aside areas of land for stump-tailed macaque con­ser­va­tion and are en­forc­ing pro­tec­tion. (Choud­hury, 2002)

• IUCN Red List

  Vulnerable
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Vulnerable
  More information

• US Federal List

  Threatened

• CITES

  Appendix II

• State of Michigan List

  No special status

Con­trib­u­tors

Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Char­lotte Er­furth (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Ore­gon, Stephen Frost (ed­i­tor, in­struc­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Ore­gon.

Ref­er­ences

Bauers, K., J. Hearn. 1994. Pat­terns of pa­ter­nity in re­la­tion to male so­cial rank in the stump­tailed macaque, Macaca arc­toides. Be­hav­iour, 129(3-4): 149-176.

Br­ere­ton, A. 1994. Cop­u­la­tory be­hav­ior in a free-rang­ing pop­u­la­tion of stump­tail macaques (Macaca arc­toides) in Mex­ico.. Pri­mates, 35(2): 113-122.

Cerda-Molina, A., L. Hernández-López, S. Ro­jas-Maya, C. Mur­cia-Mejía, R. Mon­dragón-Ce­bal­los. 2006. Male-In­duced So­cio­sex­ual Be­hav­ior by Vagi­nal Se­cre­tions in Macaca arc­toides.. In­ter­na­tional Jour­nal of Pri­ma­tol­ogy, 27/3: 791-807.

Chetry, D., R. Medhi, P. Bhat­tachar­jee. 2003. Anti-preda­tor be­hav­ior of stump­tail macaques in Gib­bon Wildlife Sanc­tu­ary, Assam, India.. Asian Pri­mates, 8/4: 20-22.

Choud­hury, A. 2002. Sta­tus and con­ser­va­tion of the stump-tailed macaque Macaca arc­toides in India. Pri­mate Rep, 63: 63-72.

Estrada, A., R. Estrada. 1984. Fe­male-in­fant in­ter­ac­tions among free-rang­ing stump­tail macaques (Macaca arc­toides).. Pri­mates, 25(1): 48-61.

Fooden, J. 1990. The bear macaque, Macaca arc­toides: a sys­tem­atic re­view. Jour­nal of Human Evo­lu­tion, 19(6/7): 607-86.

Fooden, J., Q. Guo­qiang, W. Zon­gren, Yingx­i­ang. 1985. The stump­tail macaques of China.. Amer­i­can Jour­nal of Pri­ma­tol­ogy, 8(1): 11-30.

Maestrip­ieri, D. 1996. So­cial com­mu­ni­ca­tion among cap­tive stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arc­toides). Int J Pri­ma­tol, 17(5): 785-802.

Per­to­vaara, A., I. Lin­nankoski, D. Artchakov, P. Rämä, S. Carl­son. 2004. A po­ten­tial aphro­disiac for fe­male macaques. Phar­ma­col­ogy, Bio­chem­istry & Be­hav­ior;, 79/1: 137-141.

Uno, H. 1986. The stump­tailed macaque as a model for bald­ness: ef­fects of mi­nox­i­dil.. In­ter­na­tional Jour­nal of Cos­metic Sci­ence, 8/2: 288-296.