Lmst

That time Maru met a macaque.

https://cutetropolis.com/2026/01/24/marus-cat-macaques/ #Cats #Caturday #Kittens #Macaques #MaruAndHanaAndMiri #Monkeys

Maru the cat looks through a sliding glass door at a macaque monkey standing on a wooden deck.

Macaque facial gestures are more than just a reflex, study finds https://arstechni.ca/seRx #macaques #Science

Hot spring bathing behaviors in Japanese #macaques actively reshape the host "holobiont," specifically modifying lice distribution and gut #microbiota composition beyond simple thermoregulation or stress relief.
#Zoology #Ecology #BehavioralScience #Primatology #Ethology #MicrobialEcology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/01/zoo01202601.html

#Hokkaido, #Japan
Japanese macaques bathe in a hot spring surrounded by snow and ice at #Hakodate tropical botanical gardens.

Photograph: Kyodo News/AP

#photography
#macaques

Peon A: "Sir, performing this plan would be akin to kissing baboons on the lips."

Boss: "Exactly! ... Now, I did not get here today by kissing baboons on the lips. No! They don't have adequate lips. It was macaques that I kissed on the lips. Those luscious lips are simply kissable."

Peon A: "Great!"

Peon B: "Super!"

(With apologies to the creators of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.)

#TheFallAndRiseOfReginaldPerrin #baboons #macaques #kissing #lips

🐒🎵 Researchers trained two #macaques to tap rhythmically to #music including Backstreet Boys' "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)." While the #monkeys succeeded with extensive training, critics question whether this trained behavior reveals evolutionary origins of rhythm or simply shows conditioning can teach unnatural abilities.

👉 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-monkeys-learned-to-tap-to-the-beat-of-the-backstreet-boys-can-they-teach-researchers-about-the-origins-of-human-musicality-180987779/

#science #neuroscience #evolution #research #primates #wildlife #nature

The macaques of Lopburi, Thailand

#thailand #monkey #macaques #asia #lopburi #travel

No food after midnight, no water, and stay away from bright light?

These banana-crazed pig-tailed macaques in the Phnom Srei and Bros twin pagoda are quite the personalities, for good and bad. Keeping a distance, especially to their children, is highly recommended.

Unless you want trouble comparable to a mass attack of gremlins.

But sometimes they peaceful and charming simply strike a pose. Like Stripey here.

#2016CE #Cambodia #countryside #PhnomSrei #monkey #macaques #gremlin

Photo shows a Macaque monkey sitting on an old concrete side rail with Khmer holy text written in. It is half turned and looking at the viewer with a sort of expectant mooch. It has the greybrownblonde fur typical of its species, but at the top of its head there is a visible dark black stripe contrasting the rest of the fur. In the background there are tree trunks and branches with green leaves. It is a bright, sunny day and both the animal and the trees are backlighted by the sun. Cambodia is as safe, comfortable and kind as ever. Angkor, Kampong Cham and Kampong Thom warmly welcome visitors.

“No food after midnight, no water, and stay away from bright light"

The monkeys at Phnom Bros temple are, like most temple monkeys throughout SEA, very used to humans. So much that they tend to be more domesticated than wild animals.

Cheeky troublemakers
These banana-crazed pig-tailed macaques are also quite the personalities, for good and bad. Keeping a distance, especially to their children, is highly recommended.

Unless you want trouble comparable to a mass attack of gremlins.

These monkeys are small, but they are strong and have sharp teeth. So, there is no use try picking a fight expecting to win.

Small gene pools
Another challenge for these monkeys is the few members in some of the local group. That is causing problems with inbreeding due to small gene pools.

First time I visited Phnom Bros there were some extreme examples of what happens when inbreeding Habsburger-style happens. To use a European example of what happens when science is lacking.

Three years later this inbreeding problem was mostly gone. And the monkey numbers were visibly larger. The Khmer caretakers of these animals are smarter than the Habsburgers. They make sure the monkeys are healthier, playing their part in these important cultural heritage sites.

I like that the monkeys also add some personality when visiting. Like the pose of Stripey here.

The Khmer female advantage
Phnom Bros and Phnom Srei are twin temples between Kampong Cham and Kampong Thom. They play an important role in the cultural history of Cambodia when it comes to engagements.

And why it is the man who must seek the lady and her family’s approval of engagement and marriage at the lady's home.

https://drzinasia.wordpress.com/2021/04/27/the-brother-and-sister-pagodas-2/

#2019CE #animalphotography #art #buddhism #Cambodia #countryside #kampongcham #kampongthom #khmerculture #khmerwomen #khmer #monkey #Pagoda #PhnomBros #PhnomSrei #visitCambodia #macaques #stripe #gremlin #Nikkor #Nikon #58mm #niftyfiftyeight

Magnificent Lion-tailed #Macaques 🐒🐵 of Western Ghats #India 🇮🇳🪷 are #endangered. They are hemmed in on all sides by #palmoil 🌴🔥 #deforestation. Fight for them when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🩸☠️🧐🙊⛔️ @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-72o?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Resilient tool-using Nicobar long-tailed #macaques are now #vulnerable from #palmoil and human persecution in India's Nicobar and #Andaman islands. Take a stand for them with your consumer choices! #Boycottpalmoil, and #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://wp.me/pcFhgU-7rM?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

#Chimps, #Humans and #Macaques All Love a Little Drama
“These findings demonstrate that #social information is important, rewarding and valuable for humans and other #primate #species,” Lewis says. “It suggests that social information was also important for our shared primate ancestors who lived around 25 million years ago and that for millions of years it has been adaptive for primates to gain social information about those around them.”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chimps-humans-and-macaques-all-have-a-drive-to-people-watch/
https://archive.ph/nMAX6

Nicobar Long-Tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis umbrosa

Vulnerable

Extant (resident)

India (Nicobar and Andaman Islands)

Discover the intriguing world of the Nicobar long-tailed macaque, a true survivor of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These intelligent, adaptable, and highly social creatures navigate a variety of habitats with remarkable resilience. With their broad, chubby faces , deep-set and inquisitive eyes and wiry fur, they differ in appearance from their mainland counterparts. Nicobar long-tailed macaques now face threats including palm oil deforestation and human persecution in their island home. Help them to survive and safeguard their future every time you shop, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife.

The #Nicobar long-tailed #macaque, is a gem of #India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. With charming chubby faces and curious eyes, they’re easy to love. Yet danger looms from #palmoil #ecocide. Help them and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-7rM

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Resilient tool-using Nicobar long-tailed #macaques are now #vulnerable from #palmoil and human persecution in India’s Nicobar and #Andaman islands. Take a stand for them with your consumer choices! #Boycottpalmoil, and #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-7rM

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https://youtu.be/dGGU_LY7HbY

Appearance & Behaviour

Tool-using, intelligent and charming Nicobar Long-tailed Macaques are survivors of the far-flung Indian Nicobar and Andaman islands.

In the sun-drenched Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Nicobar long-tailed macaque flourishes, showcasing their intelligence, adaptability, and social nature. Amidst the rich biodiversity of Great Nicobar Island, these robust, grey monkeys begin their day with grooming rituals and foraging, favoring the native screw pine before venturing into nearby farms in search of coconuts and areca nuts.

Distinct from their mainland counterparts, the Nicobar long-tailed macaques have broader faces, deep-set eyes, and long tails that aid their balance on the coastal trees—a necessary skill in the gusty sea breezes. Their fur, a wiry brown in the sunlight, is adapted to the islands’ humid climate, allowing them to stay dry and warm. They make their homes in a variety of environments, from mangrove forests and dense rainforests to human settlements, demonstrating their versatility and resilience across Great Nicobar, Katchal, and Little Nicobar.

This species is a master of social living and survival, defending territories and using intricate social behaviours like grooming and group foraging to maintain bonds and communication within troops. They’re inventive, using tools for flossing, foraging, and communication, and have adapted their foraging tactics to include raids on village gardens during rainstorms, showcasing their creativity and intelligence.

Threats

Natural disasters: The long-tailed macaque population suffered due to a major tsunami event but showed signs of recovery later.
Competition with humans over coconuts: Conflict over coconuts between human Nicobar islanders and long-tailed macaques, especially in Great Nicobar and Katchal islands is occurring. This is due to the monkeys’ reliance on coconuts, a valuable commercial resource. These monkeys are increasingly vilified as pests, ignoring their long evolutionary relationship with coconuts.
Human persecution and killing: Recent migrants and the indigenous Nicobarese tribe both view monkeys as pests and engage in acts of cruelty, including poisoning, to eliminate them.
Development of the island for tourism and deforestation for palm oil: Large-scale tourism development projects on Great Nicobar Island threaten the macaque’s habitat. Also deforestation for palm oil and other agriculture. Such development, covering 18% of the island, not only affects wildlife but also indigenous peoples on the islands.

Habitat

On the Nicobar Islands of India—Little Nicobar, Great Nicobar, and Katchall—this unique subspecies of crab-eating macaque umbrosa or Nicobar thrives, found at elevations up to 600 meters. A study from 2003 discovered around 788 groups living across these islands, with groups averaging 36 members, though some were as large as 56. Each group typically includes multiple adult males and females, along with their offspring. Interestingly, adult females usually outnumber males by a ratio of 4:1, with a nearly equal number of young monkeys to adult females, suggesting a strong, healthy population. There’s also talk and some early findings suggesting they might be living on a fourth island, Kondul, but more investigation is needed to confirm their presence there.

Diet

The Nicobar long-tailed macaque, a discerning frugivore, feasts mainly on fruits and nuts. Like their crab-eating kin, they diversify their diet in leaner seasons or when preferred fruits are scarce, opting for young leaves, insects, flowers, seeds, and bark. When exploring shorelines and mangroves, they also snack on small crabs, frogs, and other creatures. Living near human settlements, these macaques frequently venture into croplands in search of food and may even enter homes if not deterred by human activity.

Mating and breeding

The study of Nicobar long-tailed macaques’ mating and reproduction is still in its nascent stages. Only recently research has begun in this area, but was hampered by the 2004 tsunami. More needs to be discovered about these macaques’ mating habits, including how they form relationships, choose mates, and time their births, against the backdrop of their rapidly changing environments.

https://twitter.com/Partha_Marcus/status/1257411314986573824

Support Nicobar Long-tailed Macaques by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.

Further Information

Ramakrishna, I., Mishra, P., Mazumder, J. & Pal, A. 2022. Macaca fascicularis ssp. umbrosa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T39791A215086130. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T39791A215086130.en. Accessed on 08 April 2024.

Nicobar long-tailed macaque Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicobar_long-tailed_macaque

Nicobar long-tailed macaque on Animalia.bio website: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/39791/10257717

Partha Sarathi Mishra – research

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The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

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https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

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https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

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Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

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Ecuadorean Viscacha Lagidium ahuacaense

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Pesquets Parrot Psittrichas fulgidus

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Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Lying Fake labels Indigenous Land-grabbing Human rights abuses Deforestation Human health hazards

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

#Andaman #animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #ecocide #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #India #macaque #macaques #Mammal #Nicobar #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #SouthAmericaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies

Nicobar Long-Tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis umbrosa

Cortical development in #primates follows a hierarchical gradient, but how does this vary between species? This study shows that #humans & #macaques share conserved maturation patterns, with humans exhibiting prolonged #cortical development @PLOSBiology https://plos.io/4prEO65

Top: Schematic of the analytical approach for evaluating the T1w/T2w ratio across cortical regions and depths in macaques (left) and humans (right). In each case, the left panel displays the discrete parcels of CHARM level 6 for macaques and Schaefer 400 for humans. The middle panel labels the parcels based on geodesic distance for macaques or the sensorimotor-association axis for humans, with colors transitioning from yellow (sensorimotor) to purple (association). The right panel visualizes the laminar organization, with colors transitioning from deep blue (deep layers) to light green (superficial layers). Bottom: T1w/T2w ratio developmental trajectories across sensorimotor (yellow) and association (purple), regions, and across deep (dark blue) and superficial (green) cortical layers for macaques (straight) and humans (dotted). T1w/T2w values are adjusted relative to 1 year old (macaque) and 4 years old (human) as the baseline (y = 0). The age spans that overlap between macaques and humans are shown in solid colors, while the non-overlapping age span are plotted in diluted colors.

Макак-крабоед(яванский макак)/
long-tailed macaque(
crab-eating macaque)/Macaca fascicularis трапезничает.

20.07.2025
Kinabatangan river, Borneo, Malaysia

#malaysia #borneo #фотоохота #nature #naturephoto #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #wildlifephoto #wildlife #kalimantan #kinabatanganriver #kinabatangan #sabah #macaque #macaques #longtailedmacaque #longtailedmacaques #monkeyphotography #monkey

Resilient tool-using Nicobar long-tailed #macaques are now #vulnerable from #palmoil and human persecution in India's Nicobar and #Andaman islands. Take a stand for them with your consumer choices! #Boycottpalmoil, and #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://wp.me/pcFhgU-7rM?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

The #pathogenicity and multi-organ proteomic profiles of #Mpox virus #infection in SIVmac239-infected rhesus #macaques, https://etidiohnew.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-pathogenicity-and-multi-organ.html

Magnificent Lion-tailed #Macaques 🐒🐵 of Western Ghats #India 🇮🇳🪷 are #endangered. They are hemmed in on all sides by #palmoil 🌴🔥 #deforestation. Fight for them when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🩸☠️🧐🙊⛔️ @palmoildetect.bsky.social
https://wp.me/pcFhgU-72o?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

In our recent #JournalClub, I presented Genkin et al. (2025), who decode #DecisionMaking in the #PremotorCortex of #macaques as low-dimensional #latent #dynamics shared across #NeuralPopulations. Their generative model links tuning curves, spike-time variability, and stimulus-dependent potential landscapes to a common internal decision variable. I summarized and discussed their findings in this blog post:

📝https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09199-1
🌍https://www.fabriziomusacchio.com/blog/2025-08-01-decoding_decision_making_in_premotor_cortex/

#CompNeuro #Neuroscience #Cortex

Figure 2: Task, recordings, and generative modeling approach. a) Monkeys performed a color-discrimination task while PMd activity was recorded using multi-electrode arrays. b) Neurons exhibited diverse trial-averaged firing patterns modulated by choice and stimulus difficulty. c) A generative model inferred single-trial latent trajectories x(t), potential functions Φ(x), and tuning curves f_i(x), linking latent dynamics to observed spikes via Poisson processes. Source: nature.comꜛ (license: CC BY 4.0)

How smart are #NonHumanPrimates? This study shows that #macaques can learn to rearrange members of 5-object sequences to non-adjacent positions, suggesting that they form non-spatial cognitive maps of item relationships during learning, a hallmark of #intelligent behavior @PLOSBiology https://plos.io/40fZIKi

#macaques

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