(subsequently modified by F. Cuvier and Desmarest into Macacus) and of Inuus of Cuvier was the same animal, the Magot or Barbary Ape (Simia inuus, L.).
The "length of the tail is certainly, by itself, not a sufficient generic distinction amongst these monkeys, for there is a complete gradation from the tailless M. inuus, through the stump-tailed M. arctoides, to the pig-tailed M. nemestrinus, and thence to M. rhesus, which leads to the long-tailed Macaques. The most peculiar of the Indian foinns is M. silenus, which has by some naturalists been made the type of a distinct genus, Silenus. Even in this case, however, the only difference of any importance, the presence of a ruff of long hair round the face, is scarcely of generic rank. In the present work, all the Indian, Burmese, and Ceylonese species are comprised under Macacus.
A species of Macacus and two of Cynocephalus (the latter, as already noticed, now peculiar to Africa) have been discovered fossilin the Pliocene Siwalik beds of the Punjab. A tooth of Cynocephalus has also been found in the Pleistocene deposits of the Kurnool caves.
Genus MACACUS, Lacépède (1801).
- Syn. Inuus, Cuv.; Silenus, Gray.
Body and limbs stout, tail variable. Males larger than females and with larger canines. Ischial callosities well developed. Cheek-pouches large. Muzzle considerably produced; nostrils opening obliquely some distance short of the end of the muzzle. Last molar of lower jaw with five tubercles. Dentition, as throughout the family, i. 44, c. 1–11–1, pm. 2–22–2, m. 3–33–3. Vertebral formula C. 7, D. 12 (occasionally 13), L. 7 (or 6), S. 3, C. 10–22.
The Macaques are much more compactly built than the Semnopitheci, and have shorter limbs and a considerably longer muzzle. The species of the present genus resemble each other in their habits; they are found in flocks, often of considerable size, and generally composed of both sexes and of all ages. They are active animals, though less rapid in their movements, whether on trees or on the ground, than the Semnopitheci. Their food is varied, most of the species, if not all, eating insects as well as seeds, fruits, &c., and one kind feeding partly on crustacea. They have occasionally been known to devour lizards, and, it is said, frogs also. All have the habit of cramming food into their cheek-pouches for mastication at leisure, a practice that must be familiar to any one who has fed monkeys in confinement.
The voice and gestures of all[1] the species are similar and differ entirely from those of both the Gibbons and Semnopitheci. Tickell notices this in his MS. notes, and gives the following details, which are worthy of extraction:—"Anger is generally silent, or, at most,
- ↑ M. silenus may be an exception, as it is said to have a peculiar call. I have had no opportunities of observing this species in the wild state.
