Toque Macaque (Macaca sinica)

MORPHOLOGY:
This species has cheek pouches to carry food in while it forages. The average body mass for an adult male toque macaque is around 5.7 kilograms, and for the females it is around 3.6 kilograms. The pelage color ranges from orange to red. The adult female sometimes has a red face.

RANGE:
The toque macaque is found in the country of Sri Lanka. This species is found in a variety of forest types, generally those that are located near water. This species does not live near humans.

ECOLOGY:
The toque macaque is a frugivorous species, but it also consumes flowers and insects. The toque macaque will also raid crops and garbage dumps. The average group size number is 20.6 individuals. This is a diurnal species.

LOCOMOTION:
The toque macaque is a quadrupedal species (Fleagle, 1988).

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR:
The toque macaque has a multimale-multifemale social system. This species has a promiscuous mating system. Females remain in their natal group with the onset of maturity, but males will disperse shortly before adolescence. There is a hierarchical system amongst group members based upon the matriline. Females with a higher rank given to them by their mothers are more likely to survive to the age of reproduction and they will have a higher annual birth rate (Dittus, 1979). Also lower ranking individuals feed in poorer areas because more dominant individuals will displace them (Dittus, 1977; 1979).

VOCAL COMMUNICATION:
scream calls: This call is given by the toque macaque when they are approached by a non-group conspecific.

loud call: This is emitted by the male, and is used to maintain intergroup spacing. A group will move away upon hearing this call.

OLFACTORY COMMUNICATION:

VISUAL COMMUNICATION:
fear grimace: The lips are retracted so that the teeth are shown; the teeth are clenched together (Estes, 1991). This display functions as an appeasement signal to reduce aggression in aggressive encounters (Estes, 1991).

staring with open mouth: This is the stare accompanied by the mouth being open but the teeth are covered (Estes, 1991). This is a threat expression (Estes, 1991).

TACTILE COMMUNICATION:

REPRODUCTION:
The toque macaque gives birth to a single offspring. During estrus the perineum of the female turns a red color.

REFERENCES:
Burton, Frances. 1995. The Multimedia Guide to the Non-human Primates. Prentice-Hall Canada Inc.

Dittus, W.P. 1977. The Social Regulation of Population Density and Age-sex Distribution in the Toque Monkey. Behaviour, Vol. 63, 281-322.

Dittus, W.P. 1979. The Evolution of Behaviors Regulating Density and Age-specific Sex Ratios in a Primate Population. Behaviour, Vol. 69, 265-302.

Estes, R.D. 1991. The Behavior Guide to African Mammals. University of California Press.

Fleagle, John G. 1988. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press.

Last Updated: October 9, 2003.
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