Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 8.1.
Group composition, and mean sex and age ratios of Macaca
fascicularis in Mauritius and Asia.
Ratios
Adult
Adult:
AM
AF
Adol
J
I
Total
Sex
Immat.
Reference
3.4
8.4
-
7.8
4.2
23.8
1:2.7
1:1.0
Southwick and Cadigan
(
1972
)
2.8
5.0
-
8.0
2.8
18.5
1:1.7
1:1.4
Kurland (
1973
)
2.5
7.0
2.0
4.5
5.0
21.0
1:2.8
1:1.2
Aldrich-Blake (
1980
)
7.0
18.0
3.0
20.0
18.0
66.0
1:2.6
1:1.6
Koyama
et al
., (
1981
)
3.0
10.0
2.0
13.0
2.0
30.0
1:3.3
1:1.3
Wheatley (
1982
)
1.7
7.5
-
3.5
3.3
16.0
1:4.6
1:0.7
Khan and Wahab (
1983
)
4.5
7.6
2.1
7.9
2.7
24.8
1:1.7
1:1.0
van Schaik
et al
., (
1983
)
3.3
10.3
1.7
11.0
8.3
34.7
1:3.1
1:1.9
Koyama (
1984
)
8.0
23.0
5.0
39.0
10.0
85.0
1:2.9
1:1.6
This study. Group S
6.0
20.0
4.0
36.0
5.0
72.0
1:3.3
1:1.6
This study. Group N
AM = Adult males.
AF = Adult females.
SAM = Subadult (i.e., adolescent) males.
J = Juveniles
I = Infants
reconvene before returning to their evening sleeping sites. These subgroups
were made up of matrilineal groups with some attached males, or young, ado-
lescent and/or subordinate male subgroups (Sussman and Tattersall,
1981
;
Jamieson,
1998
). Over a year-long period, Jamieson found that subgroup size
and number correlated with resource availability and with reproductive cycle.
The Mauritian macaque group sizes are among the larger group sizes
observed for
Macaca fascicularis
, which range from < 10 to > 85 (
Table 8.2
).
As can be seen from this table, this is one of the characteristics of long-tailed
macaques that is highly variable. Generally, the largest groups are found
in savanna and thorn scrub vegetation, as in Mauritius, or in urban forests,
urban parks, and temples throughout Malaysia and Indonesia. In many urban
habitats, the monkeys are fed by people. The smallest groups are found in
swamp and mangrove forests. Groups living in secondary forest appear to
live in larger groups than those in found in primary forests (Crockett and
Wilson,
1980
).
Although group size is highly variable from site to site and in different
habitat types and ecological conditions, group structure is phylogenetically
