Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 8.5.
Activity budgets of Macaca fascicularis
Feed
Move
Travel
Rest
Groom
Play
Other
Total
Reference
28
—
30
42
—
—
—
100.0
Rodman (
1973
)
35.0
20.0
—
34.0
12.0
—
—
101.0
Adrich-Blake (1980)
32.0
23.0
5.0
22.0
13.0
—
5.0
100.0
Sussman and
Tattersall (
1981
)
13.0
—
45.0
42.0
—
—
—
100.0
Wheatley (
1982
)
55.0
15.4
—
13.6*
6.0
10.0
—
100.0
Khan and Wahab
(
1983
)
* Combined values for rest (3.3%) and sit (10.3%) categories.
vegetation if deer hunting parties were close by. They also would raid the sug-
arcane fields only in early morning or late evening, when the fields were not
being tended and when no hired human monkey-guards were present
As mentioned above, throughout its range,
M. fascicularis
has been described
as a riverine “refuging” species (Hamilton and Watt,
1970
), departing and
returning to a central place, usually near a river, each day (Fittinghoff and
Lindburgh,
1980
; Wheatley,
1978
,
1980
,
1982
; Sussman and Tattersall,
1986
;
van Schaik
et al
.,
1996
). Among these macaques, although activity cycles are
quite variable from location to location, refuging is a common characteristic.
This behavior is quite rare among primates and further research into the fac-
tors affecting activity cycle and refuging in this species would be a worthwhile
endeavor. It is another feature that makes these macaques a potentially interest-
ing model for early human behavioral evolution.
Locomotion and choice of forest strata
In Mon Vallon, the monkeys were very versatile in their locomotion and use
of different forest strata. They were mostly terrestrial, with over 70 percent of
time spent on or just above the ground during all activities except feeding. All
traveling (group displacement) was done on the ground. This was necessary
because of the absence of contiguous forest canopy. In addition, over 50 per-
cent of all movement and grooming occurred on the ground. On the other hand,
the monkeys fed in all levels of the forest and over 70 percent of feeding was in
small and larger canopy trees. They also were frequently seen in water search-
ing for food (e.g., snails and water plants), swimming, and playing.
In most of SE Asia, especially where sympatric with pig-tailed macaques,
long-tailed macaques are almost exclusively arboreal. Elsewhere they are
