Order : PRIMATES
Family : Cercopithecidae
Species : Macaca assamensis

Head-body length : males to 73 cm, females to 59 cm.
Tail length : varies greatly between subspecies, but no more than 63% of head-body length and generally much shorter.
Weight : 5-10 kg

The Assamese Macaque occurs mainly in upland and mountain regions of the eastern Himalayas and border regions between China and Southeast Asia, up to elevations of 3000 metres or so. However, it is also recorded in low-lying forests in the Sundarban delta region.

This is a stocky, muscular macaque with a massive skull and powerful jaws.  Its fur is long and varies from dark brown to golden brown. The underside is pale. Adults have distinctive long, pale fur which frames the cheeks and chin, with darker patches extending from near the eyes back to the ears. The facial skin is somewhat purplish, except for the area around the eyes which is pale.

Its tail is relatively short, well haired, pendulous, and typically measures around 30 cm in adults.

It prefers forested habitats, and is mainly arboreal but may come to ground to feed. It has a varied diet of leaves, fruits, insects and other invertebrates, and small vertebrates such as lizards.

Within Southeast Asia this species occurs in parts of northern Myanmar, northern Thailand, Laos and northern Vietnam. Its range extends to southern China, northeast India, Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Fig 1 : An adult male Assamese Macaque adopts a threat posture. This fine specimen has well developed pale fur on the cheek and chin. Photographed in Bhutan, this example is of the eastern subspecies (Macaca assamensis assamensis) which ranges into northerly parts of Southeast Asia. Photo thanks to Ng Bee Choo.


References :

Francis, C.M. 2019. A Field Guide to the Mammals of South-east Asia. Second Edition. New Holland. 416 pp.

Groves, C. 2001. Primate Taxonomy. Smithsonian Institution.