Wildlife
Macaques are the most widespread primates except humans. They are Old World monkeys and most have tails. Some macaques, including the Barbary macaque, have no tails just like apes. All macaques have powerful jaws, long canine teeth and cheek pouches that can hold the same volume of food as their stomachs. There are currently 22 species of macaque, many of them easily recognised such as the Rhesus macaque. Europe's only free-living primate, the Barbary macaque, is found on Gibraltar. The Japanese macaque is the most northerly-living non-human primate.
Did you know?
A macaque's cheek pouches can store the same volume of food as its stomach.
Scientific name: Macaca
Rank: Genus
The shading illustrates the diversity of this group - the darker the colour the greater the number of species. Data provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
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Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
The macaques ( /məˈkɑːk/ or /məˈkæk/)[citation needed] constitute a genus (Macaca /məˈkɑːkə/) of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae.
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Japanese macaque
Barbary macaque
Toque macaque
Helpless young
Hierarchical
Acoustic communication
Social
Chemical communication
Visual communication
Viviparous