Snub-Nosed Monkeys

1. Snub-Nosed Monkeys Jameshia Harris

2. Snub-Nosed Monkeys • Tucked high in the Qin Ling Mountains of central China, a nimble primate with a peculiar mug has conquered a pitiless landscape. The golden snub-nosed monkey is one of five related species—remnants of once widespread populations whose ranges were squeezed by climate change after the last ice age. Enduring groups, living in territorial bands that can top 400 animals, are being squeezed again by logging, human settlement, and hunters wanting meat, bones (said to have medicinal properties), and luxurious fur. Many have been pushed into high-altitude isolation, where they leap across branches, traverse icy rivers, and weather long winters at nearly 10,000 feet, shielded by that coveted coat.

3. Snub-Nosed Monkeys • About 20,000 of the golden variety remain on Earth. Some 4,000 inhabit the mountainous region where Chinese officials set up the Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve to protect the species. Living both in and out of reserve boundaries, Rhinopithecusroxellana, whose Latin name was allegedly inspired by the snub-nosed concubine of a 1500s sultan, has made great adaptations to survive, subsisting on low-protein lichens and bark when trees are bare. Large social networks help fend off predators, like clouded leopards.

4. Snub-Nosed Monkeys • Moms outrank barren females in these snub-nosed societies, and males with multiple mates gain high status. So do males that display "courage and perseverance," says biologist Qi Xiao-Guang of Northwest University in Xian, China. Bands may clash when ranges overlap, and "males show their vigor by fighting and forcing the enemy out." Territorial animals, including these and other primates, often do more posturing than injuring—mainly to protect themselves.

5. Snub-Nosed Monkeys • The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey is one of the most endangered primates in the world, and indeed was presumed extinct for a time before its rediscovery in 1989 (6) (7). Vietnam’s largest primate species (8), it is an unusual and distinctive monkey, with a broad, flattened face, a flat, upturned nose, tufted ears, pale blue rings around the eyes, and thick, pink lips, giving an almost comical appearance. The back, outsides of the limbs and hands and feet are black, although the fur between the shoulders may be more brownish, while the underparts, inner sides of the limbs and the elbows are creamy white. The forehead and cheeks are also creamy, with bluish-black colouration around the mouth, and there is an orange throat patch, which is most prominent in adult males. The long tail is blackish-brown, with whitish tips to the hairs, and a white tuft at the tip (2) (3) (4) (8) (9) (10). • Infant Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys have grey rather than black fur, becoming darker with age, and lack the orange throat patch and the long, whitish hairs of the tail (4) (10) (11). Compared to other Rhinopithecus species, the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey is more slender, with more elongated digits, and shows a lesser degree of sexual dimorphism (8) (10). The calls of this species include a loud, distinct, hiccough-like ‘huuchhhk’, given when alarmed or as a contact call, as well as a softer ‘huuchhhk’, a soft ‘hoo’, and a rapid ‘chit’