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{{Short description|Subspecies of Old World monkey}}
{{Subspeciesbox
| name = Nicobar long-tailed macaque
| image = Nicobar Long-tailed or Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fascicularis umbrosa).jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Nicobar long-tailed macaque in [[Nicobar Islands]], [[India]]
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Kumara, H.N. |author2=Kumar, A. |author3=Singh, M. |date=2021 |title=''Macaca fascicularis'' ssp. ''umbrosa'' |volume=2021 |article-number=e.T39791A17985345 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T39791A17985345.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Macaca
| species = fascicularis
| species_link = Crab-eating macaque
| subspecies = umbrosa
| authority = [[Gerrit Smith Miller Jr.|Miller]], 1902
}}

The '''Nicobar long-tailed macaque''' ('''''Macaca fascicularis umbrosa'''''), popularly known as the '''Nicobar monkey''', is a [[subspecies]] of the [[crab-eating macaque]] (''M. fascicularis''), [[Endemic (ecology)|endemic]] to the [[Nicobar Islands]] in the [[Bay of Bengal]]. This [[primate]] is found on three of the Nicobar Islands—[[Great Nicobar]], [[Little Nicobar]] and [[Katchal Island|Katchal]]—in [[biome]] regions consisting of [[tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests]].

==Description==
The Nicobar long-tailed macaque has brownish to grey fur, with lighter colouration on its undersides. Its face is pinkish-brown, with white colour spots on its eyelids. Infants are born with a dark [[natal coating]], which lightens as they reach maturity, which occurs at about one year of age. The [[gestation|gestational period]] is five-and-a-half months. Adult males are roughly one-and-a-half times larger than the females, and can measure up to {{convert|64|cm|ft|0}} in height, and weigh up to {{convert|8|kg|lb}}. The males also have larger [[canine teeth]] than the females. The tail is longer than the head-to-rump height. Like other [[macaque]]s it possesses cheek pouches in which it can store food temporarily, and transport it away from the foraging site to be eaten in shelter and safety. In captivity it can have a lifespan of up to approximately thirty years, however in the wild this is much shorter.<ref name=PrimateInfo>{{cite web |last=Cawthorn Lang |first=K.A. |year=2006 |title=Primate Factsheets: Long-tailed macaque (''Macaca fascicularis'') Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology |url=http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/long-tailed_macaque |work=Primate Info Net |publisher=National Primate Research Center, [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] |access-date=17 January 2006 }}</ref>

==Distribution==
[[File:Nicobar Islands.jpg|right|thumb|380px|The [[Nicobar Islands]], three of which—[[Great Nicobar]], [[Little Nicobar]], and [[Katchal Island]]—provide the natural habitat for these macaques]]
A 2003 study identified some 788 groups of this subspecies in the wild across the three islands, in group sizes averaging 36 individuals, although groups of up to 56 were recorded.<ref name=IJP/> The groups are composed of multiple adult males and females, together with their immature offspring. Adult females in a group outnumbered the adult males by a general ratio of 4:1, with the ratio of immature young [[macaque]]s to adult females being near-equal, indicative of a healthy population replenishment.

Apart from these populations in the wild, only a single group (as of 2002) of some 17 individuals is held in an Indian [[zoological garden|zoo]] for captivity breeding and research purposes.<ref name=WII>{{cite book |last=Walker |first=Sally |author2=Sanjay Molur |date=December 2001 |chapter=Problems of Prioritizing Primate Species for Captive Breeding in Indian Zoos |chapter-url=http://wiienvis.nic.in/primates/downloads/page138problems.pdf |editor=A.K. Gupta (volume |title=Non-human Primates of India |series=ENVIS Bulletin: Wildlife and Protected Areas |issn=0972-088X |location=Dehra Dūn, India |publisher=[[Wildlife Institute of India]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=138–151 |isbn=0-14-302887-1 |oclc=50908207 }}</ref>

Populations of this subspecies are particularly noted in the [[Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve]], and its two constituent [[National parks of India]], [[Campbell Bay National Park]] and [[Galathea National Park]]. Although these regions are [[protected areas]], and the animal is classified as a Schedule I animal under [[India|India's]] 1972 Wildlife (Protection) Act, the increasing encroachment of settlements and farmlands in adjoining areas of the southeastern part of the island has led to some problems with the local inhabitants.<ref>{{cite web |author=Department of Environment & Forest, A & N Administration |title=Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve |url=http://forest.and.nic.in/frst-great%20nicobar%20biosphere%20reserve1.htm |access-date=2006-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208095618/http://forest.and.nic.in/frst-great%20nicobar%20biosphere%20reserve1.htm |archive-date=2006-02-08 }}</ref> Bands of Nicobar long-tailed macaques have been reported as damaging the settlers' crops, and a few macaques have been illegally killed. In particular, they are sometimes hunted or trapped to protect coconut plantations.

[[crab-eating macaque]]s on Great Nicobar have long been hunted for [[list of subsistence techniques|subsistence]] by the [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] [[Shompen people|Shompen]] peoples of Great Nicobar,<ref name="iucn"/> although they do not form a substantial part of their diet.

As with other primates whose habitats overlap with or are encroached upon by human settlement activities, there is some risk of [[zoonosis|zoonotic]] disease transference to individuals who come into close contact with them.<ref name=PrimateInfo/> One 1984 study has identified their susceptibility to [[Plasmodium|malarial parasites]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Sinha |first=S. |author2=A. Gajana |year=1984| title=First report of natural infection with quartan malaria parasite ''Plasmodium shortti'' in ''Macaca fascicularis umbrosa'' (= virus) of Nicobar Islands |journal=[[Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene]] |location=Amsterdam |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |volume=78 |issue=4 | page=567 | doi=10.1016/0035-9203(84)90095-6 |pmid=6485074 |oclc=114617853}}</ref>

==Habitat==
Its preferred [[habitat (ecology)|habitat]] includes [[mangrove]]s, other coastal forests and [[riverine]] environments; however it is also found in inland forests at altitudes of up to {{convert|600|m|ft}} [[above mean sea level]] The highest point in the Nicobars, [[Mount Thullier]] on Great Nicobar, is some {{convert|642|m|ft}} high. In particular, areas of forest with trees of sp. ''[[Pandanus]]'' are favoured.<ref name=IJP>{{cite journal |last=Umapathy |first=G. |author2=Mewa Singh |author3=S.M. Mohnot |date=April 2003 |title=Status and Distribution of ''Macaca fascicularis umbrosa'' in the Nicobar Islands, India |journal=[[International Journal of Primatology]] |location=Dordrecht |publisher=[[Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=281–293 |doi=10.1023/A:1023045132009 |s2cid=12851499 |issn=0164-0291 |oclc=356841109 }}</ref> Bands of these macaques living in coastal zones tend towards a more terrestrial existence and spend less time living in the trees than do the more [[arboreal]] populations of the inland forest zones. Each band has a favoured territory, preferentially close to a water source, over which they roam; this territory measures some {{convert|1.25|km2|acre}} on average.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

==Behaviour==
The Nicobar long-tailed macaque is a [[frugivore]], with its principal diet consisting of [[fruit]]s and nuts. In common with other crab-eating macaques it turns to other sources of food—typically in the dry and early rainy tropical seasons—when the preferred fruits are unavailable. This alternate diet includes young leaves, insects, flowers, seeds, and bark; it is also known to eat small [[crab]]s, [[frog]]s and other creatures taken from the shorelines and mangroves when foraging in these environments.<ref name=PrimateInfo/><ref>{{cite book |author=Molur, Sanjay |url=http://www.zooreach.org/downloads/ZOO_CAMP_PHVA_reports/2003%20Primate%20Report.pdf |title=Status of South Asian Primates: Conservation Assessment and Management Plan (C.A.M.P.) Workshop Report, 2003 |author2=Douglas Brandon-Jones |author3=Wolfgang Dittus |author4=Ardith Eudey |author5=Ajith Kumar |author-link5=Ajith Kumar (biologist) |author6=Mewa Singh |author7=M.M. Feeroz |author8=Mukesh Chalise |author9=Padma Priya |publisher=[[Zoo Outreach Organisation]] |year=2003 |isbn=81-88722-03-0 |series=Report no. 22; ZOO and IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group workshop, held State Forest Service College, Coimbatore 5–9 March 2002 |location=Coimbatore, India |oclc=56116296 |access-date=17 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221173754/http://zooreach.org/downloads/ZOO_CAMP_PHVA_reports/2003%20Primate%20Report.pdf |archive-date=21 December 2016 |name-list-style=amp |author10=Sally Walker}}</ref>{{rp|29}} Macaque populations which live in areas close to human settlements and farms frequently raid the croplands for food, and have even entered dwellings in search of sustenance if not actively discouraged by human presence.

Like all [[primate]]s, it is a social animal, and spends a good deal of time interacting and grooming with other group members. It typically forages for food in the morning, resting in groups during the midday hours and then a subsequent period of foraging in the early evening before returning to designated roosting trees to sleep for the night.<ref name=PrimateInfo/>

It moves [[quadruped]]ally on the ground as well as in the canopy, and it is capable of leaping distances of up to {{convert|5|m|ft}} from tree to tree. Like other long-tailed macaques, it is also a proficient swimmer and may use this ability when threatened to avoid arboreal or terrestrial predators.<ref name=PrimateInfo/>

==Conservation status==
Their [[conservation status]] as documented by the [[IUCN Red List]] is listed as [[vulnerable species|vulnerable]], having been amended in 2004 from the [[taxon]]'s previous status as ''data deficient'' following some more extensive studies. This reflects the likely increase in disturbances to their habitat caused by human activities, in particular on the island of Katchal.<ref name=iucn/> The Wildlife Institute of India however registered their status in 2002 as ''critically endangered'', reflecting also their concerns that conservation efforts with regards to a defined captive breeding programme were deficient.<ref name=WII/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last=Abegg |first=C. |author2=B. Thierry |year=2002 |title=Macaque evolution and dispersal in insular south-east Asia |journal=[[Biological Journal of the Linnean Society]] |location=London |publisher=[[Academic Press]], on behalf of [[Linnean Society of London]] |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=555–576 |issn=0024-4066 |doi=10.1046/j.1095-8312.2002.00045.x|oclc=108076291|doi-access= }}
* {{cite book |last=Andrews |first=Harry V. |author2=Allen Vaughan |year=2005 |chapter=Ecological Impact Assessment in the Andaman Islands and Observations in the Nicobar Islands |editor=Rahul Kaul |editor2=Vivek Menon |title=The Ground Beneath the Waves: Post-tsunami Impact Assessment of Wildlife and their Habitats in India |volume=2 |chapter-url=http://www.wti.org.in/publications/ground-beneath-the-waves-vol2.pdf |series=Conservation action series, 20050904 |location=New Delhi |publisher=[[Wildlife Trust of India]] |pages=78–103 |oclc=74354708 |access-date=2010-02-19 |archive-date=2011-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721180829/http://www.wti.org.in/publications/ground-beneath-the-waves-vol2.pdf }}
* {{cite journal |last=Blyth |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Blyth |year=1846 |title=Notes on the fauna of the Nicobar Islands |url=https://archive.org/stream/journalasiatics40benggoog |journal=[[Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal]] |location=Calcutta |publisher=Bishop's College Press, on behalf of [[Asiatic Society of Bengal|The Society]] |volume=15 |pages=367–379 |oclc=83652615 }}
* {{cite book |last=Elliot |first=Daniel Giraud |author-link=Daniel Giraud Elliot |year=1912 |title=A Review of the Primates, Vol. 2. Anthropoidea: Aotus to Lasiopyga |url=https://archive.org/details/reviewofprimatesrp02elli |series=American Museum of Natural History Monograph series, no. 1 |location=New York |publisher=[[American Museum of Natural History]] |oclc=1282520 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Fooden |first=Jack |date=May 2006 |title=Comparative Review of ''Fascicularis''-Group Species of Macaques (Primates: ''Macaca'') |url=https://archive.org/details/comparativerevie107food |journal=[[Fieldiana Zoology]] |series=new series, Publication 1539 |volume=107 |issue=1 |pages=1–43 |location=Chicago |publisher=[[Field Museum of Natural History]] |doi=10.3158/0015-0754(2006)107[1:CROFSM]2.0.CO;2 |issn=0015-0754 |oclc=70137322 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Fooden |first=Jack |author2=Gene H. Albrecht |date=December 1993|title=Latitudinal and insular variation of skull size in crab-eating macaques (Primates, Cercopithecidae: ''Macaca fascicularis'') |journal=[[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]] |location=New York |publisher=[[Wiley-Liss]], on behalf of [[American Association of Physical Anthropologists|AAPA]] |volume=92 |issue=4 |pages=521–538 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330920409 |pmid=8296879|issn=0002-9483|oclc=116765849}}
* {{cite book |last=Kloss |first=C. Boden |author-link=Cecil Boden Kloss |year=1903 |title=In the Andamans and Nicobars: The Narrative of a Cruise in the Schooner "''Terrapin''", with Notices of the Islands, Their Fauna, Ethnology, etc. |url=https://archive.org/details/inandamansnicoba00klos |location=London |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |oclc=6362644 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Miller |first=Gerrit S. |author-link=Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. |date=May 1902 |title=The Mammals of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands |journal=Proceedings of the United States National Museum |volume=24 |issue=1269 |location=Washington DC |publisher=[[United States National Museum]] |pages=751–795 |oclc=24358381 |doi=10.5479/si.00963801.24-1269.751 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044107357428 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/53111 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Narasimmarajan|first=K. |date=2012 |title=Status of long tailed macaque (Macaca facsicularis umrosa) and conservation of the recovery population in the great nicobar island, India |journal=[[Wildl. Biol. Practice]] |volume=2 |issue=8 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.2461/wbp.2012.8.6}}
* {{cite book |last=Pocock |first=Reginald Innes |author-link=Reginald Innes Pocock |year=1939 |title=Mammalia I. Primates and Carnivora (in part), Families Felidæ and Viverridæ |url=https://archive.org/stream/PocockMammalia1 |series=[[The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma]] |edition=2nd |editor=R.B.S. Sewell |location=London |publisher=[[Taylor and Francis|Taylor and Francis Ltd]] |oclc=493193536 }}
* {{cite book |last=Poole |first=Arthur James |author2=Viola S. Shantz |year=1942 |title=Catalog of the type specimens of mammals in the United States National Museum, including the biological surveys collection |url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinunitedst1781942unit |series=United States National Museum Bulletin, no. 178 |location=Washington DC |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Printing Office]] |oclc=2153011 }}
* {{cite book |last=Sankaran |first=R. |year=2005 |chapter=Impact of the Earthquake and the Tsunami on the Nicobar Islands |editor=Rahul Kaul |editor2=Vivek Menon |title=The Ground Beneath the Waves: Post-tsunami Impact Assessment of Wildlife and their Habitats in India |volume=2 |chapter-url=http://www.wti.org.in/publications/ground-beneath-the-waves-vol2.pdf |series=Conservation action series, 20050904 |location=New Delhi |publisher=[[Wildlife Trust of India]] |pages=10–79 |oclc=74354708 |access-date=2010-02-19 |archive-date=2011-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721180829/http://www.wti.org.in/publications/ground-beneath-the-waves-vol2.pdf }}
* {{cite web |last=Sivakumar |first=K. |date=July 2006 |title=Wildlife and Tsunami: A rapid assessment on the impact of tsunami on the Nicobar megapode and other associated coastal species in the Nicobar group of islands |url=http://oldwww.wii.gov.in/publications/others/megapode_tsunami.pdf |work=WII Research Reports |location=Dehra Dūn, India |publisher=[[Wildlife Institute of India]] |access-date=20 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721162328/http://oldwww.wii.gov.in/publications/others/megapode_tsunami.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}
* {{cite book |last=Walker |first=Sally |editor=Sanjay Molur (compilers |year=2007 |title=Guide to South Asian Primates for Teachers and Students of All Ages |url=http://www.gibboncenter.org/images/PDF/primate%20teachers%20guide%20FINAL.pdf |series=ZOO Education Booklet, no. 20 |location=Coimbatore, India |publisher=[[Zoo Outreach Organisation]] |isbn=978-81-88722-20-4 |access-date=2010-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728092946/http://www.gibboncenter.org/images/PDF/primate%20teachers%20guide%20FINAL.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-28 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060128095535/http://www.and.nic.in/faunalwealth/faunal_wealth.htm photo of ''M. f. umbrosa'' specimen, Science Centre, Port Blair, Andaman Islands]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5460541}}

[[Category:Macaca]]
[[Category:Primates of Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Endemic fauna of the Nicobar Islands]]
[[Category:Mammals of India]]
[[Category:Vulnerable fauna of Asia]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr.]]

Nicobar long-tailed macaque - Revision history

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