Ecological Adaptations of Temperate Primates: Population Density of Japanese Macaques

Abstract

The importance of the ecology of Japanese macaques lies in the fact that they are typical “temperate primates.” Temperate forest is a marginal habitat for primates, as the center of the primate distribution is tropical rainforest. If we define the border between temperate and tropical areas as the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, approximately 20 genera of eight families of primates are distributed in temperate areas, including East Asia (Japan and China), South Asia (Bhutan, Nepal, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), South Africa, North Africa (Morocco and Algeria), Madagascar, and South America (Argentina). Among them, ten species are distributed more widely in temperate than in tropical regions, including five species of macaques (Macaca fuscata, Macaca cyclopis, Macaca mulatta, Macaca thibetana, and Macaca sinica), three species of golden monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti, Rhinopithecus roxellana, and Rhinopithecus brelichi), and capped and golden langurs (Trachypithecus pileatus and Trachypithecus geei). Among them, five species (Japanese and Barbary macaques, Sichuan and Guizhou golden monkeys, and golden langurs) are distributed exclusively in temperate regions (Fleagle 1999). Japanese macaques are undoubtedly the best studied temperate primate species.