4. Macacus assamensis. The Himalayan Monkey.
- Macacus assamensis, McClelland, Horsfield, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 148; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 64; id. Cat. p. 70.
- Macacus (Pithex) pelops, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. ix, p. 1213 (1840).
- Inuus pelops, Jerdon, Mam. p. 11.
- ? Macacus problematicus, Gray, Cat. Monkeys &c. B. M. 1870, p. 128.
- ? Macacus rheso-similis, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 405, pl. xxv; ib. 1875, p. 418.
Fur of moderate length, wavy, and, in Himalayan specimens, distinctly woolly in texture. Hair of crown often indistinctly radiating, not lengthened. Tail nearly half as long as the head and body, not tufted. Buttocks well covered with hair, except on the callosities.
The skull differs but little from that of M. rhesus, except in being larger, but appears higher, with a deeper lower jaw.
Colour. Above uniform dark brown, without any grey tinge: hinder parts the same, not rufescent, as in M. rhesus; lower parts distinctly paler. Fur destitute or nearly destitute of annulation, and, in general, of pale tips, slightly lighter in colour, but not ashy, at the base. Face dusky (perhaps variable).
Dimensions. Adults apparently are considerably larger than M. rhesus. Head and body (probably of an average specimen) 20 inches, tail 9½; of another, a female, 17·2 and 7·6. A male, nearly adult, skull from Upper Burma measures 5·54 inches in extreme length from occiput to premaxillaries, aud 3·63 broad, according to Anderson. An adult female skull from Nepal measures 4·7 inches in extreme, aud 3·2 in basal length, 3·3 broad.
Distribution. The Himalayan range as far west as Masuri, or perhaps further, from near the base of the hills to a considerable elevation; also Assam, the Mishmi hills, and Upper Burma near Bhamo, whence obtained by Anderson. The same species appears also to be found in the Sandarbans east of Calcutta[1], and there is in the British Museum a specimen very probably of the same animal from the Laos country in Upper Siam. In Sikhim this species is generally seen between 3000 and 6000 feet above the sea. McClelland's original type was from Assam, possibly from the hills to the northward. The type of M. problematicus of Gray was from Dhalimkot in Bhutan.
Habits. This species much resembles M. rhesus, but is, whether wild or tame, more sluggish in all its movements. Its voice, too, is different, though the difference is small.
I was at first disposed to consider the Himalayan form, M. pelops, distinct from M. assamensis, but after going over all the evidence
- ↑ Anderson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 529, and An. Zool. Res. p. 64. In his last work, the 'Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian Museum,' Calcutta, p. 68, Anderson has referred the Sandarban specimens to M. rhesus, on account of certain cranial characters, and especially the size of the skull. The description, however, agrees with that of M. assamensis in what I believe to be the characteristic peculiarities of that species.
