Macaca sylvanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6867065 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6863137 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/CE199B17-FFC3-FFC6-FF2F-675EF5BCFD31 |
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treatment provided by |
Jonas |
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scientific name |
Macaca sylvanus |
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1. View Plate 36: Cercopithecidae
Barbary Macaque
French: Macaque de Barbarie / German: Berberaffe / Spanish: Macaco de Berberia
Other common names: Barbary Ape
Taxonomy. Simia sylvanus Linnaeus, 1758 View in CoL ,
Barbary Coast.
The first primate species to appear in Gesner’s 1551 Historiae Animalium and subsequently cited by Linnaeus in 1758. M. sylvanusis thought to be the earliest offshoot of the genus Macaca and is unique in being the only African macaque and the only macaque with a tail thatis vestigial or entirely lacking. Genetic studies have ascertained that the Moroccan and Algerian populations are distinct and may have split c.1-6 million years ago. Monotypic.
Distribution. Mountainous areas in Morocco (Rif, High and Middle Atlas) and Algeria (Grande and Petite Kabylie); historically it also occurred in W Tunisia but is now extinct there. A free-ranging population occurs in Gibraltar introduced there by the British in 1740. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 55.7-63.4 cm, tail 0-4-2-2 mm (vestigial); weight 9-9— 14-5 kg. Male Barbary Macaques are larger than females. Pelage coloris relatively uniform across the body but varies with age from pale buff to golden brown to dark brown in mature adults of both sexes.
Habitat. A wide variety of forest habitats including cedar ( Cedrus ), fir ( Abies ), and deciduous and evergreen oak ( Quercus ); also thermophilous scrub and steep rocky escarpments and cliffs. The Barbary Macaque is the only non-human primate found north of the Sahara in Morocco and Algeria, with a Mediterranean climate that suffers seasonal extremes of temperature in mountainous areas.
Food and Feeding. Barbary Macaques are opportunistic feeders with an omnivorous diet, the content of which depends on location and season. Food items include leaves, fruit, rhizomes, seeds, lichen, animal foods, acorns, conifer seeds (cedar and fir), and fungi. They also raid agricultural crops and fruit trees in northern Morocco, and the population in the Middle Atlas has been blamed for the death of mature cedar trees because of their bark stripping behavior. Wateris a limiting factor for Barbary Macaques in some areas.
Breeding. Barbary Macaques are seasonal breeders. Females show an anogenital swelling during periovulatory periods in autumn. Females usually mate with more than one male during all stages of the ovulatory cycle. They first give birth at 4-6 years of age. Single infants are born in April-June every year, after a gestation of ¢.165 days. Under captive conditions, the most fertile period of a female's life is 7-12 years of age. It decreases thereafter until it ceases altogether at 20-25 years of age. Under captive conditions, subadult males (4-5-6-5 years of age) have much lower reproductive success than adult males (7-5-25 years) and same-aged females. Longevity in captivity is c.30 years for females and c¢.25 years for males. One of the most prominent behavioral features of the Barbary Macaque is the amount of allomaternal care provided to infants by group members. Infants in captive conditions have been recorded as spending ¢.20% of the day with individuals other than their mothers, particularly with adult males. Genetic testing of paternity showed that relatedness has no effect on male preference for specific infants, but infants play a role in mediating social interactions particularly among males.
Activity patterns. The Barbary Macaque is diurnal, and their activity patterns are influenced by human use of their habitat and resource abundance. Depending on the time of year, groups of Barbary Macaques separate during the day to feed and come together at communal sleeping sites in trees, rocks, or caves at night. Predators include domestic dogs, Golden Jackals (Canis aureus), and Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes).
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Home ranges vary from 7-2 km? in the fir forest of the Moroccan Rif to 2-8-3-8 km? in Algeria. Home range overlap among groups can be 80%. Overall population density estimates are 6-7 ind/km? in fir forest and 12-1-28-2 ind/km?*in the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas. Groupsize is 12-88 individuals. Groups of Barbary Macaques are multimale-multifemale, with rates of male emigration lower than in other macaque species. In semi-free ranging captive populations, adult Barbary Macaques are able to distinguish photographs of group members from other individuals.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Barbary Macaque has a long association with humans as evidenced by the finding of 21 mummified Barbary Macaques in an Egyptian tomb and the petrified body of a juvenile found in the Italian city of Pompeii. Serious declines in the Moroccan Middle and High Atlas populations are attributed to habitat degradation and poaching of infants for sale as pets in Morocco and Europe. The population in northern Morocco is stable or increasing and remains the best hope for the continued existence of the Barbary Macaque in the wild. Recent information on its status in Algeria is unavailable, but infant capture for the pet trade is certainly a problem there. The conservation status of the Barbary Macaqueis precarious, with less than 7000 individuals left in the wild and the main populations fragmented and distant from each other.
Bibliography. Bailey et al. (1999), Camperio Ciani & Mouna (2006), Cuzin (2008), Fa et al. (1984), Fooden (2007), Gesner (1551), Goudsmit & Brandon-Jones (1999), Hanya et al. (2011), Kuester & Paul (1999), Kuester et al. (1995), van Lavieren & Wich (2010), Mehlman (1989), Menard & Qarro (1999), Menard & Vallet (1996), Menard et al. (2001), Modolo (2006), Paul et al. (1992), Schell et al. (2011), Thierry & Aureli (2006), Waters et al. (2006).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
