Look! This is a monkey selfie! But this macaque is critically endangered

This is probably one of the most famous selfies in the world.

The protagonist of the photo is a black crested macaque (Macaca nigra). In 2011, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a British nature photographer tried to take a close-up of the black crested macaques, but found that the monkeys became nervous when he raised the camera. Fortunately, they seemed to be quite interested in their own reflections in the lens, so the photographer placed the camera on a tripod, adjusted the parameters, and let the curious and timid monkeys play on their own , and finally got this selfie of a black crested macaque with a standard smile.

A crested black macaque takes a selfie. The photographer who set up the camera is David Slater.

This photo has made people around the world pay attention to a previously unknown species - the black crested macaque. On Sulawesi Island, there are not only black crested macaques, but also six of its closely related relatives.

Seven species of macaques on one island

The genus Macaca is widely distributed, second only to Homo among primates. They can be found in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, the deciduous forests with distinct seasons in northern China and Japan, and even in the grasslands of northwest Africa, far from Asia. The genus Macaca emerged in North Africa about 7 million years ago, then branched out in Asia, adapting to different environments and evolving into the 24 (some believe 23) known species, which can be said to be a good example of adaptive radiation . The seven species of macaques in Sulawesi are an excellent example.

Sulawesi is the eleventh largest island in the world by area. It is located in eastern Indonesia. The main part is K-shaped, divided into four peninsulas, and there are several smaller islands adjacent to it. The black-crowned macaque is distributed in the northeast corner of Sulawesi, and the other six species occupy different areas. The macaque species in this area alone account for 1/3 of the macaque genus, which can be said to be the Darwin finches of primates.

Adaptive radiation refers to the evolution from an original general species to a variety of new species that are adapted to unique lifestyles and niches. The new species retain some morphological characteristics of the original species to a certain extent. The picture shows several macaques on Sulawesi Island and their distribution areas. | Erin P. Riley / Evolutionary Anthropology (2010); Chinese translation: Birdman Robbi

Regarding the origin of the seven species, the earliest hypothesis is that in the middle of the Pleistocene, when the sea level was low, the ancestors of the Sulawesi macaques sailed across the ocean from neighboring Borneo, took root in central Sulawesi, and then gradually entered different areas of the island. The inland seas and rivers formed by geological changes and the retreat of forests may have blocked different monkey groups and allowed them to embark on their own evolutionary paths. Now, Sulawesi macaques can be seen in the island's tropical rainforests, karst seasonal forests, and swamp forests. Despite their different living environments, their main food is fruit, and various figs are particularly important.

In the 1980s and 1990s, as various data gradually became abundant, people discovered that the Hecki macaques (M. hecki) living in the northwest corner of the island were quite different from their two neighbors - they were likely descendants of another group of sea-crossing macaques.

But in general, the time difference between the two crossings should not be large, so the seven species are not far apart, and there are even hybrid individuals with appearances between the two species in many border areas . It may be that due to the weak survival ability of hybrid individuals, the hybrid zone did not expand to both sides, and they are still considered to be seven separate species (another view is that the yellow-brown macaque and the Butun macaque are two subspecies of the same species).

Black crested macaque | Magnus Johansson / Wiki media Commons

The seven species have similar body shapes and short tails. The black-crested macaque was even once called the black ape because of its short tail. The most obvious difference in their appearance is the fur color - the black-crested macaques in the northeast corner and the Gorontalo macaques are all black, while the other is flat brown. The trunks of the other species also have different shades of color, and the face, limbs and buttocks have white areas. In addition, the cushion on the buttocks is also a distinct feature, especially the black-crested macaque, which has a pink cushion that is clearly divided into four parts.

These monkeys can also recognize who is "their own monkey". Researchers once showed photos of seven species of Sulawesi macaques plus pig-tailed macaques (M. nemestrina) and Japanese macaques (M. fuscata) to monkeys from all over the island and found that each species tended to stare at photos of the same species for a longer time .

Peace lover with toothy smile

The selfie of the crested black macaque quickly became popular and was quickly reprinted by various media. It was also said that the monkey took the camera and took the photo. This brought attention to the crested black macaque, but it also unexpectedly triggered a three-year lawsuit - the dispute was, who owned the copyright of the monkey's selfie? When the photographer used this photo, did it count as an infringement of the crested black macaque's copyright? The lawsuit lasted until 2018, when it was settled on the grounds that the law does not support animals holding copyrights.

Full-body selfie taken with David Stirler's camera

Compared with the conflicts in the human world, the relationships among Sulawesi macaques are much more harmonious.

In most monkeys, the silent baring of teeth in the selfie is not a sign of happiness, only when monkeys of lower social rank show fear and submission to higher-ranking monkeys. But the seven species of macaques in Sulawesi are an exception - they will bar their teeth at each other regardless of rank. This expression often appears when two individuals are close, and the grin is often followed by peaceful interactions. So, the black-crowned macaque in the selfie is likely greeting its own reflection .

Such differences may be related to the social lifestyle of Sulawesi macaques.

Crested black macaques living in groups | Bernard DUPONT / Wikimedia Commons

Similar to other macaques of the same genus, Sulawesi macaques also live in multi-male and multi-female groups of 20 to 40 individuals, and black-crowned macaques can sometimes form large groups of 97 individuals. Macaca species can be divided into two categories, one with strict hierarchy and the other with equal relationships. The former is represented by Japanese macaques and common macaques, and the monkey group maintains a strict and stable hierarchy - the female hierarchy is determined by blood relationship, and the male hierarchy is arranged according to combat effectiveness and seniority, so the relationship between males is tense.

The macaques on Sulawesi are typical egalitarians - it is difficult to tell which side has a higher rank when fighting, relatives do not support each other much, and rarely fight to the point of biting. Rather than fighting, they prefer to groom together and have some peaceful interactions. In addition, they have a variety of reconciliation behaviors to relieve tension. However, male black-crowned macaques are an exception. The relationship between them is relatively tense and there is a strict hierarchy.

A future where crisis and hope coexist

However, the current situation of macaques in Sulawesi is not optimistic. In the IUCN Red List, the black crested macaque is critically endangered , the Moorish macaque (M. maura) is endangered, and the other species are vulnerable.

The crested black macaque is critically endangered | TR Shankar Raman / Wikimedia Commons

In 2016, the black crested macaque was included in the list of the 25 most endangered primates; a 2008 IUCN report showed that in the past 40 years, due to human hunting and habitat loss, the number of black crested macaques has decreased by 80% , leaving only 4,000 to 6,000. Although there is an artificially introduced black crested macaque group on Bazan Island, 300 kilometers southeast of Sulawesi, with 100,000 individuals, it is still controversial whether this group can represent the native black crested macaques in Sulawesi. Moreover, before solving problems such as human hunting and habitat loss, sending them back to Sulawesi is of limited significance.

In the 1980s, Sulawesi was about 54% forested; however, with population growth and land development, by the beginning of this century, only 30% of the forest was intact and without obvious human activity. The good news is that protection is ongoing, with the area under protection increasing since the 1980s, and protected areas are found throughout the habitats of the seven species of Sulawesi macaques . However, many of the protected areas cover high altitude areas, and our understanding of whether the monkeys can make full use of these areas and how effective the protected areas are is still limited, and more detailed conservation biology research is needed.

Eat a coconut | Bernard DUPONT / Wikimedia Commons

Fortunately, there is hope in crisis. Humans and Sulawesi macaques are not entirely hostile. For a long time, locals have lived in harmony with the monkeys . Legends in some parts of Sulawesi describe macaques as animals that are closely connected to humans, which makes people more tolerant of macaques stealing crops. In southeastern Sulawesi, although there is overlap in the use of forest resources by humans and monkeys, it has not caused severe conflicts. Many resources can be shared by humans and monkeys and each can take what it needs.

In the context of rising population density and commercialization of agriculture, the relationship between humans and monkeys faces new challenges . After all, large macaques in groups seem to bring greater economic losses to agriculture. At this time, researchers, policymakers and local residents are all crucial to the future of macaques. Researchers at the University of San Diego once wrote about such an example: In their research, they found that rodents caused much more agricultural product losses than monkeys, so they shared this information with the residents. In the end, the residents agreed that monkeys would not threaten their income and decided to coexist peacefully with macaques.

Communication and cooperation may be able to overcome numerous challenges and find a path for Sulawesi macaques and humans to coexist harmoniously.

Author: Walnut seedlings

Editor: Mai Mai

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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