Macaca cyclopis
Creators: name: Russell A. Mittermeier
name: Anthony B. Rylands
name: Don E. Wilson
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Cercopithecidae
Macaca
Macaca cyclopis

description: 22.
Taiwanese Macaque
Macaca cyclopis
French: Macaque de Taiwan / German: Formosa-Makak / Spanish: Macaco de Formosa
Other common names: Formosan Rock Macaque, Taiwan Macaque
Taxonomy. Macacus cyclopis Swinhoe, 1862,
Formosa (= Taiwan). Restricted by R. Kellogg in 1945 to “Jusan (Ape’s Hill), Takao prefecture, Formosa” (= Shou Shan, Kaohsiung, Hsien, Taiwan).
M. cyclopis is a member of the fascicularis species group of macaques, including M. fascicularis, M. mulatta, and M. fuscata. It has the characteristic helmet-shaped and relatively long and narrow glans penis. M. cyclops, or its mainland progenitors, may represent an early stage in reduction oftail length in the fascicularis species group, and it presumably dispersed from the eastern Asian mainland opposite Taiwan to the island during drops in sea level correlated with glacial advances before 300,000 years ago. A molecular genetic study byJui-Hua Chu and colleagues suggested a divergence date for Taiwanese M. cyclopis and Japanese M. fuscata from mainland ancestral M. mulatta of 0-38-0-44 million years ago. Monotypic.
Distribution. Endemic to Taiwan I, whereit is widely distributed in the E Mts.
Descriptive notes. Head—body 47.5-65 cm (males, including captive specimens, 65 cm in one wild male) and 42-60 cm (females, including captive specimens, 44 cm in one wild female); tail 43.5-50 cm (males, including captive specimens) and 35-41 cm (females, including captive specimens); weight 6.3-18.5 kg (males, including captive specimens, 8-1 kg in one wild male) and 5.5-9.5 kg (females, including captive specimens). The mean head-body length of male Taiwanese Macaques exceeds that of females by 14%. Dorsal pelage brightens from yellowish brown in the thoracic region to golden brown on the lumbosacral region. Crown is generally somewhat paler than thoracic region. Outer surfaces of limbs are about the same color as adjacent surfaces of the trunk, but they gradually become a little more grayish. Proximal one-third of dorsal surface of the tail is about the same color as the lumbosacral region, but the distal two-thirds is dark grayish brown to a clearly defined blackish; it is blacker in fully adult males than fully adult females. Undersurfaces of trunk, limbs, and tail are pale grayish. Skin of the thinly haired face is pinkish to reddish, while an indistinct fringe of somewhat elongated blackish hairs surrounds the face on the forehead and cheeks. Pelage of neonatesis dark gray to blackish and becomes about the same color as that of adults by ¢.9 months of age.
Habitat. Broadleaf evergreen forest and, at upper elevations, mixed broadleaf needleleaf forest, and occasionally needle-leat and bamboo forest. The elevational range of the Taiwanese Macaque is 100-3400 m; about one-third of recorded localities are at elevations of 1000-1500 m, and only ¢.5% above 2500 m. The Taiwanese Macaqueis most frequently observed in the lower forest strata. It rests on exposed rocky surfaces on an uplifted coral reef formation in south-western Taiwan and enters cavesto sleep or apparently to keep cool. Its natural distribution appears not to extend to any small surrounding islands.
Food and Feeding. The Taiwanese Macaque eats primarily fruits and seeds, although leaves and other plant parts from trees, shrubs, and herbs are included in the diet. Thirty-eight to 132 species of wild plants have been recorded in their diets at different sites. Crop raiding tends to occur at elevations below 1000 m, and at least 33 cultivated crops are known to be opportunistically exploited. Animal foods consumed by Taiwanese Macaques include crayfish, grasshoppers, cockroaches, termites, cicadas, beetles, caterpillars,flies, wasp nests, snails, tadpoles, lizards, and bird eggs.
Breeding. Reproduction in the Taiwanese Macaque is strongly seasonal; mating frequency peaks in November—January and birth frequency peaks in March—June. A single young is born after an average gestation, in captivity, of 162 days. A twinning rate of 1% was recorded at the south-western site of Shou Shan during five birth seasons. Females generally mature sexually at c.3-5—4-5 years old, and they first give birth at 4-5 years old. Sexual maturation in males probably occurs by at least 5-6 years, at which time males emigrate from their natal groups. The mean length of the menstrual cycle in captive females has been recorded at 27-3-27-9 days and 29-4 days. Both singlemount and multimount ejaculations occur, and mating has been observed both on the ground and in the trees. In one captive group, copulation was preceded by rhythmic lip movements performed by the male and female facing each other. Conspicuous cyclical changes in female sexual skin are correlated with ovulatory cycles and may be restricted to the mating season. The hindquarters from the root of the tail to the back of the thighs become prominently red and swollen in subadult and young adult females; older females experience changes in redness but not tumescence. During the mating season, male facial and scrotal skin becomes intensely red and includes the appearance of a pair of narrow red streaks that extend laterally from the outer corners of the eyes. The known reproductive rate in natural populations is 0-45-0-95 births/ sexually mature female/year; the mean annual reproductive rate is probably c.0-7. Mean birth weight was 402-430 g in 111 captive births. Females in natural populations apparently nurse their infants for 6-12 months, and mean interbirth intervals of 13-4 months and 15-4 months were recorded at two study sites. Pelage coloration in neonatesis dark gray to blackish and becomes about the same as that of adults by ¢.9 months old. Infanticide by immigrant males may be a cause of some infant mortality. A captive male in Japan reportedly lived for 39 years.
Activity patterns. Detailed information on activity patterns is available for only one population observed in Yushan National Park, central Taiwan, during 1987-1988: composite daily averages were 83:2% arboreal behavior and 16-8% terrestrial behavior. Well-habituated groups of Taiwanese Macaques in Kenting, Shou Shan, and Fushan tend to move on the ground when traveling in disturbed areas and through trees when traveling in mature forests. Peak feeding timeis in the early morning, and a secondary peak occurs in the afternoon. The proportion of daylight hours spent foraging was 30-35% and c.60% at two differentsites. Taiwanese Macaques sometimes sleep on the ground and in caves. They reportedly swim well and sometimes in the sea.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Most groups are relatively small; a rough estimate of mean size in 121 groups surveyed was 12-2, with individual group numbers ranging from 2-10 to more than 20. Larger groups tend to be restricted to elevations below 1500 m. Troops are multimale-multifemale with resident lineages of female kin and males migrating from natal groups. A few transfers of adult females have also been observed. The pooled ratio of sexually mature males to sexually mature females varied from 1:1-8 to 1:6:7 in eight natural populations, with a pooled sex ratio of 1:2. All male groups including adults and juveniles have been observed at two localities and were loosely associated with mixed-sexed groups. Solitary monkeys, presumably males, have also been observed. The mean home range is ¢.130 ha, and home ranges of neighboring groups may partly overlap. Local seasonal movements in response to temperature changes may occur in both lowland and upland populations.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix II. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List. The Taiwanese Macaque is threatened mainly by habitat destruction. Local extirpation in the western lowlands due to intensive human settlement and agricultural exploitation had occurred by the mid-19" century, and logging continues to be a major threat. Taiwanese Macaques were hunted or trapped for food or medicinal purposes, including by aboriginal peoples, but hunting declined during the last two or three decades of the 20" century, primarily as a result of conservation legislation. Taiwanese Macaques trapped as pests have been used for medical experimentation and teaching, and they were formerly trapped for export, mostly to Japan. An isolated population of Taiwanese Macaques, estimated at 1247 individuals in 2008, inhabits Shou Shan (Mt. Longevity) in Kaohsiung City, the largest city in southern Taiwan. Habitat degradation and provisioning have led to close contact and conflict between Taiwanese Macaques and people. Conflict between wildlife and tourists has gradually become a serious problem throughout Taiwan. Staff ofYushan National Park are training volunteers to educate tourists not to feed Taiwanese Macaques and how to interact with macaques on the new Central Cross-Island Highway. In 2001, the total extant population of Taiwanese Macaques was estimated to be ¢.250,000 in ¢.10,000 groups, but variability in these estimates was high.
Bibliography. Abegg & Thierry (2002a), Chu Juihua et al. (2007), Fooden (2006), Fooden & Wu Haiyin (2001), Hayasaka et al. (1988), Hsu & Lin Jinfu (2001), Hsu, Agoramoorthy & Lin Jinfu (2001a, 2001b), Hsu, Lin Jinfu & Agoramoorthy (2000, 2006), Kellogg (1945), Lee Lingling & Lin Yaosung (1990), Lee Lingling et al. (2002), Liu (2 010), Masui et al. (1986), Peng Mingtsung et al. (1973), Petto et al. (1995), Poirier (1984), Su Hsiuhui (2010), Su Hsiuhui & Lee Lingling (2001), Wu Haiyin & Lin Yaosung (1992).
description: Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Cercopithecidae, pp. 550-755 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 647-648, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6867065