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Barbary Macaque - Macaca sylvanus
Topic Started: Jan 8 2013, 11:23 AM (1,806 Views)
Scalesofanubis
Omnivore
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Barbary Macaque - Macaca sylvanus

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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Macaca
Species: Macaca sylvanus

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The Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus), or Barbary ape, is a species of macaque with no tail. Traditionally found in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco along with a small population of unknown origin in Gibraltar, the Barbary macaque is one of the best-known Old World monkey species. [4] Besides humans, they are the only free-living primates in Europe. Although the species is commonly referred to as the "Barbary ape", the Barbary macaque is actually a true monkey.

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Physical Description
The monkey is yellowish-brown to grey with a lighter underside, growing to a maximum size of 75 cm (30 in) and 16 kg (35 lb). Its face is dark pink and its tail is vestigial. The front limbs of this monkey are longer than its hind limbs. Females are smaller than males.

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Ecology
Dwelling in forests of cedar, pine and oak, the Barbary macaque may frequent elevations of 1,200- 1,900 meters above sea level or higher. It is a diurnal animal, dividing its time more or less equally between arboreal and terrestrial territory.[7] Mostly herbivorous, this monkey feeds on leaves, roots, and fruit, but will also eat insects. By day, the Barbary macaque patrols a territory which may span several square kilometres; it peacefully coexists with other primate species and shares watering holes without incident.
It is a diurnal animal, dividing its time more or less equally between arboreal and terrestrial territory.[7] Mostly herbivorous, this monkey feeds on leaves, roots, and fruit, but will also eat insects. By day, the Barbary macaque patrols a territory which may span several square kilometres; it peacefully coexists with other primate species and shares watering holes without incident.
The main purpose of calls in Barbary macaques is to alert other group members to possible dangers such as predators. Barbary macaques can discriminate calls by individuals in their own group from those by individuals in other groups of conspecific macaques. Neither genetic variation nor habitat differences are likely causes of acoustic variation in the calls of different social groups. Instead, minor variations in acoustic structure among groups similar to the vocal accommodation seen in humans are the likely cause. However, acoustic characteristics such as pitch and loudness are varied based on the vocalizations of individuals they associate with, and social situations play a role in the acoustic structure of calls.
Barbary macaque females have the ability to recognize their own offspring’s calls through a variety of acoustic parameters. Mothers demonstrate different behaviors upon hearing the calls of other infant macaques as opposed to the calls of their own offspring. Because female macaques can distinguish among a variety of parameters, infant calls do not have to differ dramatically for mothers to be able to recognize their own infant’s call. More parameters for vocalizations lead to more reliable identification of calls in both infants and in adult macaques so it is not surprising that the same acoustic characteristics that are heard in infant calls are also heard in adult calls.
Although Barbary macaques are sexually active at all points during a female’s reproductive cycle, male Barbary macaques determine a female’s most fertile period by sexual swellings on the female. Mating is most common during a female’s most fertile period. The swelling size of the female reaches a maximum around the time of ovulation, suggesting that size helps a male predict when he should mate. This is further supported by the fact that male ejaculation peaks at the same time that female sexual swelling peaks. There is not a sufficient change in female sexual behavior around the time of ovulation in order to demonstrate to the male that the female is fertile. The swellings, therefore, appear necessary for predicting fertility.
Barbary macaque females differ from other non-human primates in that they often mate with a majority of the males in their social group. While females are active in choosing sexual associations, the mating behavior of macaque social groups is not entirely determined by female choice. These multiple matings by females decreases the certainty of paternity of male Barbary macaques and may lead them to care for all infants within the group. In order for a male to ensure his reproductive success, he must maximize his time spent around the females in the group during their fertile periods. Injuries to male macaques peaks during the fertile period which points to male-male competition as an important determinant of male reproductive success. Not allowing a female to mate with other males, however, would be costly to the male since doing so would not allow him to mate with more females.
Unlike other macaques where most parental care comes from the mother, Barbary macaques from all age and sex groups participate in alloparental care of infants. Male care of infants has been of particular interest to research because high levels of care from males is uncommon in groups where paternity is highly uncertain. Males even act as true alloparents of infant macaques by carrying them and caring for them for hours at a time as opposed to just demonstrating more casual interactions with the infants. Female social status plays a role in female alloparental interactions with infants. Higher ranking females have more interactions whereas younger, lower ranking females have less access to infants.
Barbary macaques can cause major damage to the trees in their prime habitat, the Atlas Cedar forests in Morocco. Since deforestation in Morocco has become a major environmental problem in recent years, research has been conducted to determine the cause of the bark stripping behavior demonstrated by these macaques. Cedar trees are also vital to this population of Barbary macaques as an area with cedars can support a much higher density of macaques than one without them. A lack of a water source and exclusion of monkeys from water sources are major causes of cedar bark stripping behavior in Barbary macaques. Density of macaques, however, is less correlated with the behavior than the other causes considered.

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Relationships with Humans
Wild populations of Barbary macaques have suffered a major decline in recent years to the point of being declared in 2009 as an endangered species by the IUCN. Three-quarters of the world population are located in the Middle Atlas Mountains. This species is also poached for live specimens as pets in the illegal pet trade, and for clandestine collectors. Spain is the main entry point in Europe. Today, no accurate data exist on the location and number of individuals out of their habitat. An unknown number of individuals are included in zoological collections, at other institutions, in private hands, in storage, or waiting to be relocated to appropriate destinations.
The habitat of the Barbary macaque is under threat from increased logging activity. As such, they are listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List. Local farmers view the monkeys as pests, and engage in extermination of the species. Once common throughout northern Africa and southern Europe, only an estimated 12,000 to 21,000 Barbary macaques are left in Morocco and Algeria. Once, their distribution was much more extensive, reaching Tunisia and Libya. Their range is no longer continuous, with only isolated areas of range remaining. During the Pleistocene, this species inhabited the Mediterranean coasts and Europe, reaching Italy, Hungary, Spain and France, and as far north as Germany and the British Isles. The species decreased with the arrival of the Ice Age, becoming extinct in the Iberian Peninsula 30,000 years ago. The skull of a Barbary macaque was discovered during excavation in the 1970s at the pre-Christian Navan Fort in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Carbon dating tests suggest it died there in the third century BC.
Many of the mistaken ideas about human anatomy contained in the writings of Galen are apparently due to his use of these animals, the only anthropoid available to him, in dissections. Strong cultural taboos of his time prevented his performing any actual dissections of human cadavers, even in his role as physician and teacher of physicians.

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Gibralter Population
The last wild population in Europe is that of Gibraltar, which unlike that of North Africa, is thriving. At present, according to the census carried out by Andrew Stimpson, some 300 animals in five troops occupy the area of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, though occasional forays into the town may result in damages to personal property.

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Edited by Taipan, Jan 22 2013, 02:56 PM.
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